Sly 4 Return to Crime
by cablubershnibermier
Summary: Sly and his gang are back! They are all still living separate lives but little do they know that they will cross paths sooner than they think. An apparently old enemy wants revenge. And he wont let them be until he gets it. MY FIRST COOPER FIC! R&R!
1. The Dynamic Duo

Sly 4

Return to Crime

I do not own any characters or ideas created and developed by Sucker Punch or any other enterprise that took part in the making of Sly Cooper.

A/N This is my first Sly Cooper fic. I hope it's good because this is the second time I'm doing chapter one. Please R&R.

Chapter 1- The Dynamic Duo

Paris 11:43 PM 

Bentley stretched his neck as far as it would allow. He was sitting on a sponge-filled chair in a dingy, mildew-smelling apartment. It was raining outside of the cheap motel he had rented for Penelope and himself. She had already gone to sleep and was currently behind him; shifting position every so often causing a creak in the worn out, coffee stained bed. In front of him was a small coffee table with a paper twice as big as a graph chart. The paper fell over the table and touched the floor. On the paper, rough draft # fifteen of the time machine. The paper was so massive that Bentley had to stretch his neck to see the end of it. He re-read it about five times, then began to circle parts of it with red marker. By the time he was done, which was twenty after midnight; almost the whole thing was covered in X's and circles. Bentley sighed and shook his head. Using all of his strength, he hoisted himself onto his wheelchair, which was right beside the other chair he had been using. He was used to it so there was much of a strain to complete this switch of chairs. Bentley rolled back to bed, feeling no satisfaction for rough draft # fifteen.

The next day Penelope was the first to awake. She stayed in bed for five minutes, more, and then got up. She saw the time machine plans covered in red corrections. Penelope sighed silently and went to the small washroom. She took a nice, quick shower and put on her overalls. When she got out, Bentley was already awake, packing.

"We're leaving, Bentley?" she asked. He turned around to face her.

"I believe the police are on their way here. They were tipped of by one of the residents here. Penelope also couldn't help but notice that he was wearing one of his disguises.

He wore a brown, pin-striped suit over an orange Hawaiian shirt; white gloves, a light brown cap, and red and white sneakers. Penelope grabbed a black dress, red boots, and elbow-length blue gloves. They were now the badly-dressed misfits. She stuck a fake, unlit cigarette in her mouth and Bentley put on a trimmed beard. They grabbed their bags and walked out the door. They took the keys and closed the door. They then locked it and slide the keys under the door.

"This should provide some extra time," muttered Bentley. They turned to the left of the small hallway and walked out the fire exit. Bentley, instead of rolling down the stairs jumped landing to landing. When they were at the bottom, Bentley pulled the alarm and they both ran. Sirens neared just as they turned into an alley. The police cars stopped in front of the motel and instantly ran to block the exits, thinking that the two culprits were still inside. Five men ran inside the building and questioned the manager of their whereabouts. There was a little bit of confusion because Bentley had signed in as Douglas wearing a bunny costume. Penelope had signed in as Mary.

"There's a bunny named Douglas and a mouse named Mary," said the manager. "That's the only couple that came in that had a female mouse in it."

The bulldog head cop asked one more question.

"Was the bunny in a wheelchair?"

"Yeah. What's it to you?" he asked. The bulldog nodded and they stormed up the stairs.

"Freeze in there!" the bulldog shouted. One cop tried opening the door but it was locked. They thought that Bentley and Penelope were still inside so they busted down the door. There was no one in sight.

The subway left them off far away from the motel they had been in just about half an hour back. They headed to the airport and bought two first-class tickets to California. It would be a long trip.

A/N I started you off with a short chapter. I hope you liked it! Please review and I would appreciate any hints from my fellow authors. However, no very negative comments please.


	2. The Unauthorized Detective

I do not own any characters or ideas created by Sucker Punch or and other trademark. I don't own anything else that I might write in the story.

Chapter 2- The Un-authorized Detective

Just about twenty minutes after Bentley and Penelope's escape, the bulk of detectives had left the motel room. There was only one inspector still checking for evidence. He looked all around the room but found nothing. _How did they make such a clean escape? _

Outside, on top of the motel, a man waited in the shadows of the clouds. The lights were on in the motel room so when the man saw the inspector's shadow on the windowpane, he jumped down. The inspector didn't have time to react. The man jabbed his index and middle finger into the inspector's shoulder. The inspector fell with a light thud. The man picked him up, arranged him in the chair to make it look as if he had fallen asleep, and locked the door.

"Falling asleep on the job?" the man muttered. "Very naughty." After the man had made a through inspection of the room, he decided that they had made quite a clean escape. He bended over and checked the carpet in front of the door. It was almost impossible to tell if a wheelchair had passed over it. No, it was impossible.

"Hey, let us in!" a police officer shouted from outside. The man jumped out of the window and landed on top of the lamp post. He jumped on the roof and ran to the other end. From there he jumped to the floor and went inside through the fire exit. He checked the landings and smiled. _I thought so. _There were little brown spots on each landing. The brown spots were simply light scorch marks. And they were made by Bentley's wheelchair. The man ran back outside and climbed up a pipe to soon be standing on another rooftop. He took out a little GPS tracker that he carried around with himself. It was quite unique, packed with information. The man was quite proud because he had invented it himself. His tail twitched with excitement as he checked for the nearest TTC station. The wind picked up and his trench coat whipped around him. The GPS found the nearest TTC station. It was only three streets down. He jumped on a streetlight, then on another building, then another. Travel was quite simple for him, considering his skill and the packed buildings of Paris. He got to the TTC station and knocked on the door to the ticket-man's compartment. _Ha-ha. Ticket man._ He knocked louder when all of the ticket-buyers were down, trying to catch the rocket. The ticket man, a bear in uniform, opened the door.

"Sir, you have to buy your tickets…" The man checked over the bear's uniform with his red/hazel eyes. He ripped off the top button of the bear's shirt and jabbed his neck. He fell in a big heap. The man smiled and walked over him. He deactivated the security camera, keeping his head low, and snatched the security tape. He then walked back outside into the chilly Paris night. The man jumped up and landed lightly on the street bus, hitching a ride. He went to a high rooftop and slipped the tape into his 'Gizmo'. It took a long time, but eventually he saw Bentley and Penelope in their disguises. They paid their fare and walked (or rolled) into the eastbound tunnel. The man ran a search on the nearest airport and then calibrated that information into the route of the eastbound tunnel. He found the nearest airport maybe around five stations up. The man broke into a fast run, jumping from building to building. _Soon Sly, soon. _He finally got to a small airport, just to the side of a highway. He ran past any soon-to-be travellers, and climbed over the fence to get to a jumbo jet plane. He climbed up to the top and planted a little treat. He soon "stumbled" into the airport and made his way into the ventilation system. When he was lying over a guard, he pressed the detonator. The jumbo jet plane was blown to bits. The explosion was so great, that it caused a chain reaction. Giant flames of red and yellow spread all over the place, some tips licking the side of the airport, causing a crisis. Everyone was running now, the fire department had been warned. Hopefully everyone would get out alive. He jumped down, out of the vent and kicked open the door the guard had been guarding. Inside was the record room. It had everything from the day's tapes to who bought what ticket, and when. He plugged in his Gizmo and downloaded everything in ten seconds. When he got back out from the record room, the hallway was thick with acrid smoke. Some fire was actually sneaking in under some doors. People were screaming. Sirens were sounding. But they seemed somehow distant. He ran for the emergency escape but suddenly, a big chunk of the roof fell. He jumped out of the way and ran for the next escape. With this one he was luckier. He got out and jumped past any policemen. Eventually they started blowing their whistles and shouting at him to stop. But he would not. He had what he wanted.

He eventually outran them and waited on a high rooftop for his Gizmo to finish uploading everything. Finally, after plenty of searching, he found Bentley and Penelope under their aliases. Two first-class tickets, California, direct. The man called one of his henchmen.

"Have the jet ready. Pack my stuff and get a permit for a flight to California. Also try getting a lock on any packages sent to California by a man named Big Buck. That's their supplier. His package should lead us right to them." He hung up and returned to the motel. A block away he entered his Mercedes Benz. California was waiting.

A/N Sorry it took me so incredibly long to write this up. The thing is, I already had it planned out but I got hooked on manga. But today I decided to finish it up. Anyway, I'll start working on the next one right away. Please keep reading! Review please.


	3. Breach

A/N Sorry I took so long! I had to rewrite this chapter because before it was dead boring. So, enjoy!

Chapter 3- Breach

Julio Gonzalez was a vendor in Bogotá. He sold candy, newspapers, and phone cards. He worked from 1:00PM to 6:00PM. Julio got up in the morning in his small apartment and took a bath. He would then have his breakfast of toast and eggs. He would brush his teeth, put on a yellow shirt, jeans, and cap. He would get in his small two-seater that had more scrapes than a street fighter. His car would rumble down streets for ten minutes until he got to his small stand. He would use his key to unlock it and start selling. At six, he would get back in his car, and drive back home. Julio would go to sleep until midnight, and wake up again for his other job.

His boss, who he did not really know, would call ten minutes after he woke up if he had a job for him. When his boss called, he would give Gonzalez all the information he needed, and Julio would get an appropriate disguise, his silenced P99 and get in his scraped up car. Some idiot named Ignacio Salvador needed to get whacked, according to the boss.

Sometimes the boss would tell him the location of where to pick up a vehicle, or tell him to get his behind on a plane. This time, the boss had told him to pick up a 1998 black corvette five blocks down. He drove there, picked it up from one of his co-workers, and drove to _Hotel de la Playa. _

**12:30**

Murray couldn't get to sleep. The adrenaline from his last race was still zooming through his veins. He had won another trophy in an illegal street race under his alias, Ignacio Salvador. He was currently in Hotel de la Playa, which meant Beach Hotel. He had a good view of the huge beach from here.

Murray rolled and turned on his bed but he couldn't get to sleep. He got up and looked out of the window. The streets were deserted except for some gangsters, a taxi, and a black car. The car stopped in front of the hotel. Murray stepped away from the window and sat down on his bed. His cell phone rang and he answered it.

"Hey Murray, old buddy!" Bentley said.

"Hey Bentley! I won another cup! How's Penelope?" he responded.

"Fine. Listen, I need you to send that package I gave you to California. I'll send you the other information in a message when it's morning over there." Murray responded with an affirmative and hung up.

Downstairs, the manager was asking Julio how long he was staying. A minute later, he was a rumpled heap on the ground with a bullet in his chest. Julio knew that for safety reasons, the manager had a pistol stuck under the desk. He had to be killed.

Murray, meanwhile, was getting the package that Bentley had given him about a month ago in Nunavut. He had said that he might need delivering someday. He had said that it was some power core with an incredible amount of something that could blow up a building if not handled properly or something. He hadn't really been paying attention. Someone suddenly knocked.

"Uh, yes?" Murray called.

"Fire! There's a fire!" the other person screamed. Murray flung the door open. The man smiled and Murray saw that he had been carrying a gun.

He did the only thing that popped into his mind. He jumped. Apparently the man hadn't been aiming to kill. He had been planning to shoot his knee. The shot got buried in the floor. Murray landed and gave the man a great big sucker punch. The man flew to the wall and cracked it. He landed, unconscious. Murray knelt, stomped the floor and grabbed the man when he flew up into his arms. Murray threw him on a chair and sat on the bed. Now he just had to wait.

Julio knew that this Ignacio person thought he was knocked out. He had been wearing a Kevlar vest. The Kevlar had apparently protected him from much of the blow. He felt that he was tied on a chair with rope. Julio slid a knife out of his sleeve and began cutting through the rope. When that was done, he opened one eye.

Ignacio was in the bathroom, doing who knows what. Julio got up, the stiletto knife in one hand. He didn't have time to look for his gun.

He heard his strong adversary turn off the tap. Julio kicked the door down and jumped in. Ignacio was not there. _Unless… _too late. Murray jumped out from behind the curtains, and knocked Julio back into the room. There was no more time to pretend knockouts. He jumped up and threw the knife. It grazed Murray's cheek and got stuck in the wall. Murray lunged but Julio jumped out of the way. He used this opportunity to grab Salvador's head and smash it against the window. He elbowed Julio in the ribs, head in the window and everything, knocking his air out.

"Good one, Ignacio." Julio called from the bed.

"I'm not Ignacio. I'm Murray!" he screamed and jumped for the elusive assassin. Julio jumped on Murray's back and tried jumping behind him. It didn't work. The roof was too low for such a manoeuvre. He hit his head on the lamp and fell. Murray landed belly-down on the bed, but quickly picked himself up again. Julio ran for the knife. When he had his hand curled around it, Murray rammed into him with his shoulder. They smashed right through the wall!

Julio was out now, but Murray heard screeches from outside. He looked out the window, just to see a limo parked outside. Five men with Uzis filed out.

"Looks like some people want their skulls smashed! Up here, dumb-dumbs!" he called. He felt more pumped than he had in a while. Murray returned to his room, collected everything including the package, and left. By left, you might have thought I meant out into the hall. But you're mistaken. By "left" I meant jumped out the window.

Murray was on the second floor, so he landed on the limo without any injuries. He plopped down on the floor and ran to the hotel garage. He got inside the "Lady Victory" the Cooper van's new name. He blasted through the garage door, heading to the beach. The men with Uzis started shooting down at him. The Victory was armoured so he didn't mind. The men also decided to jump down, back onto their limo. They got inside and chased him. The limo could open all of it's windows at once, so they stuck their heads and arms out and began shooting him. Murray drove down the wooden stairs to the beach itself.

The water was black like ink and the sand appeared bluish. It was 1:00AM.

The man was on a plane to California when he found out that Julio had failed. He told his lead henchman, Dmitri Alexandrov to send the five elites.

"He already sent one package. I'm sure he still has the second!" he hissed at Alexandrov.

"Yes sir," Dmitri replied. The man hung up and smiled to himself. The elites would not fail.

Murray was getting away. His superior driving skills were too much for those clowns. They continued shooting. He suddenly heard a noise and began spinning in circles. They had shot out his tire. He decided to stop.

They got out of the limo, Uzis in hand and surrounded the van. They closed in. Murray got into the back. When they were right at the sides of the van, Murray smashed the back doors open. The doors hit two henchmen that were standing right at the back. Murray knew these guys were tough, so he reached under the doors, grabbed their feet, pulled and smashed them into the ground. He hadn't gotten a good look at them. They wore black suits and a white mask covered their faces. The masks had no mouth, but two black holes that served as eyes. Murray jumped back inside and when the next henchman jumped into view, Murray closed the doors, getting him stuck in the middle. He gave the henchman a good punch in the face… well… mask. The man flew out and the doors opened again. Three down, two to go. Murray jumped out. One was on top of the van, reloading his Uzi. The other was running at Murray with two daggers. Murray noticed that these guys, unlike Julio, were organized and had who knows how many weapons. The Uzi guy started shooting. Murray ran out, scooped down low and picked up a rock. He then gave the dagger guy an uppercut, and threw the rock right in front of the Uzi guy's gun barrel. His hand shook wildly because of the rock blocking the barrel. Murray jumped up and punched the guy right of the van. He then jumped back down, right on time to grab the dagger guy's hands, and plunge them into the sand. He then punched the other guy in the face, and threw him into the inky water. Murray grabbed the dagger guy by the collar.

"Who sent you?" he asked matter-of-factly.

"Give me the package," he responded in a vaguely Russian accent.

"The wha… oh no." Murray knocked the guy out, got in his van, and drove away. He fumbled with his cell phone in one hand, but managed to call Bentley.

"Watcha need, buddy?" Bentley asked groggily. It seemed as though calling Murray had been the last thing Bentley had done before hitting the hay.

"Some guys attacked me," he said quickly. "They knew about the package. There's been a breach."

A/N Hope ya liked it. REVIEW!!!


	4. Cops and Robbers

Chapter 4- Cops and Robbers

Boom was victorious. Again. Boom was a robber famous for his pyrotechnics. But his specialty was, well, his name says it all. He had been born to explosives, grown up with them, worked with them, and loved them. He could make bombs out of scratch. Yet he didn't become a scientist, because with his bomb skills and imagination, he would be a great friend of the army's. There was something else he was good at, and that was robbing.

Boom loved robbing almost as much as he did blowing things up. He had planned this heist on the Museum of London for quite some time. There were lasers, fake cameras for intimidation, and guards. No biggy. Tonight he had pulled it off. Starting off by building a small bubble on the side of the museum. He then placed a C4 and detonated it. The bubble was soundproof, so no one from outside heard. He entered and shut off the alarms. He then placed a small ball on the floor and shimmied up an air vent. When the guards got there, the "small ball" would detonate, sending them all flying. Boom let some Soniks, which were bombs Boom had created that could blast sonic waves in every direction with tremendous power, into the control room. To do this, he had blasted a hole from the air vent. Then he had dropped about five Soniks and continued crawling along. Since the guards knew he was in the air vent, Boom placed some Peekers on the air vent. Peekers were another one of Boom's inventions. They were "petit seekers" hence the name Peekers. He sent them to seek out air vent entrance #34, which was on the other side of the museum. The guards started shooting up at the air vents when they heard "Boom" moving along them. Unfortunately for them, Boom was actually above the inner sanctum. When the lasers shut off because of some sonic problems in the control room, Boom blew a hole in the roof and jumped in.

So now, here he was, victorious. The inner sanctum was all shiny and pretty, even in the moonlight. The tall windows cast ghostly shadows into the room, making it all a sort of faded blue colour. The tall pillars gave it an eerie look. But in the middle of the room was what Boom had come for.

It was a diamond. An ugly, black lump of diamond. It was formed all lumpy, because it had to be handled with extreme care. If they chiselled and shaped it, there would be a risk of sparks that could set off the largest bomb in the world. This diamond was packed with more boom than five of his most specially designed nuclear bombs. And that reasonably meant that he had to relieve it from this museum. He very carefully took out his flame thrower and melted the metal frame of the bullet-proof glass. An alarm went off. No matter now. He would be out in less than a minute. He grabbed the diamond that was currently in a protective ball of some strange gel. He would get rid of that back at home.

"You going somewhere?" someone said from the shadows. Boom looked around just to see hazel eyes staring back from a dark corner. The eyes blinked. "Well? You gonna put it back?" he then stepped out of the shadows. Gray fur, black stripes, hazel eyes, it was none other than…

"Sly Cooper," Boom breathed. This guy was like a bounty hunter working for Interpol. Sly smiled.

"It's always good to know that low-life criminal scum like you know my name," he winked. "Nah, I'm just kidding. I used to be a criminal, too you know? I suggest a more silent approach next time." Boom didn't have time to register this. His underground sources had told him that Sly was a victim of amnesia. He couldn't wait to spread the news in ThiefNet.

Boom threw some Soniks at Sly. He jumped and swerved and twisted around them, just to land behind Boom. Boom heard a click and tried jumping a way but it was too late. Two electric blasts hit him, full in the back. Electricity coursed through him, and he fell. The click had come from Sly's electros, which he constantly kept under a lock, hence the click. Electro is slang for electric pistol, something that all high-ranking Interpol agents carried.

Sly's electros were shiny black, because they were constantly polished by him. At the hilt, there was a strange C kind of shape, like the top of a cane. He used these C's to whack people.

He himself wore black boots, black baggy pants, a black shirt, but over that, a big black trench coat. The coat had red cuffs, and a matching collar. He always kept the coat open. His mask was red, not unlike the TMNT, and from the knot, two long strands hung. He always liked his mask to be long, so that the strands hung very low, just above his waist. He wore a black cap that was exactly like the one in his criminal days, and liked wearing it low, sometimes completely covering his right eye.

When Sly got closer, two funnels popped out from Boom's sleeve, coming out from his pinky finger's side. The funnels spewed fire, which Sly dodged. Boom threw some flying Peekers after him. Sly ran away from them and tried dodging one after the other. They were all coming at him, so he jumped to make them all hit each other and explode. They hit each other all right. They just didn't detonate. Boom had designed them too greatly. Boom flew up with his jetpack. The jetpack came equipped with rocket launchers. The rocket launchers were slung above his shoulders. He fired off two of them. Sly barely dodged them. Boom then grabbed a disc, about the size of a Frisbee, and threw it. It joined the chase for Sly. The seeker was called a Frisblade. It suddenly made a _chink! _noise, the type you get when a samurai takes out his katana. Following this sound, fifty centimetre long blades came out around it. Sly tried shooting Boom but he pulled out a strange shield and blocked his shots.

Boom placed his fists on his waist, and laughed.

Sly was getting tired. Very tired. The chase for him was going good, the deadly bombs closing in on him. He finally decided that to get out of this, he would have to endure some pain.

Sly ran up a pillar and shot behind him. It took a couple of shots, but one of the Peekers finally blew, blowing up all of the other bombs. Sly was shot up to the roof.

Unfortunately, Sly had still been in range, so the bombs ended up slightly injuring his legs. They felt like Boom was torching them with his flamethrowers. Sly "dropped" one of his electros. It was falling, heading towards Boom's underside, but he was enjoying Sly's suffering too much to notice. The electro let out an electric burst. Boom was shocked at the sudden blast. He took out his strange laser-like shield. He swung it down to block… just to notice that the shot was closer than arm length. The shot hit his left flamethrower on the barrel, making the flames shoot out like a kind of slow motion bomb. The fire gulped him up in seconds. He flew around the room, screaming and cursing. Sly thudded to the ground.

"Ahhhh!!!" he shouted in pain. His legs were killing him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" This was from Boom, who currently looked like a torch. His rockets went off. The original flames that Boom had managed to make a small layer thanks to his fast flying, was instantly joined by the new explosions.

Sly crawled toward the diamond. Boom threw a bomb at the wall and flew toward the diamond himself. The bomb blew a hole in the wall, revealing the dark night. Sly knew he himself couldn't get the diamond, get up, and run out of there. It was time for a change of plans. He smiled to himself.

The devious cop made a move, making Boom push himself to his flying limits, making him an asteroid. But instead of Sly picking up the diamond, he pushed it. Boom didn't have time to stop. He smashed into a pillar, head-first. Boom broke it in half and smashed into the wall.

After that, Sly knew he wouldn't be getting up.

He shakily got to his feet. A big line of water came out of nowhere and showered Boom. The room was suddenly full of activity. The cops and detectives, the security and the janitors. But Sly only noticed one person. The love of his life had just arrived.

"Wow, Sly, you managed not to blow up the museum."

"You'll find I'm quite good at it," he said with a smile.

Captain Carmelita Fox always got him feeling like a child in love with an equally attracted girl. "Have you forgotten our policy about not incinerating the crooks?" she asked, hiding a grin futilely.

"I try, but it's hard when you're messing with…" he pointed at Boom, "that." He had been moved to a stretcher and was being rolled out of the room.

"He's lucky that we managed to get the hose attached to the plumbing system," she answered, smiling from ear to ear.

"You're kidding!"

"Nope!" Their playful moment was shattered when Bane Calligan entered the room. Bane was tall, yellow eyed, his voice was husky. He was a wolf with dark, rich grey fur. But what Sly hated most of him was that shiny Captain badge of his.

He towered over Sly, hands behind his back.

"Well, Cooper," he said darkly, "you managed not to cost us millions of dollars… barely." He then turned on his heel, and left.

"Why I ought to…" Sly began, walking forward. He limped and inhaled sharply.

"Let's go fix up your legs," Carmelita said, taking Sly away from his rival.


	5. Close Call

A/N Yeah I know, I really dropped the ball there… MASSIVE WRITER'S BLOCK but hey! I'm back and I have a great little story planned so please, keep reading and I'll keep writing!

Chapter 5- Close Call

The little Beverly Hills home looked nice, affordable, and well-kept. Sure, it could maybe use a new paint-job, but it looked just fine. Seeing this home, you would have no idea of how hectic it was inside.

Bentley rushed around, packing everything up… again. The blueprints, his clothes, money, and many little inventions and gadgets. Penelope also packed up grumpily, her body urging her to take at least a power nap.

"So, Murray was attacked again, and all of a sudden it's of great importance. And because of Murray's attack, we are forced to leave another safe house in a great rush. That's the situation, correct?" she inquired, a little angrily.

"Yes," Bentley mumbled. "But it really is important! These men were organized, matching suits and everything! They planned this, plus they knew about the package! Something's going on, someone wants us dead, maybe even-"

"Sly," Penelope finished. They suddenly heard screeching of tires from outside. Penelope was at the window in a flash. "Uhhhh Bentley? Did you say matching suits?"

Sly sat down in the crowded room with the bad air-conditioning. Then again, it wasn't all that necessary in London, England. This HQ wasn't his favourite, by far, but it was okay. The whole darn Interpol police force stationed in all of England had been called to the meeting. Lucky Sly and Carmelita were already there, so they just sat and waited. Bane Calligan sat up on the stage, shiny Captain's badge over his breast pocket. When the bulk of the officers arrived, Carmelita joined him, along with the other captains and high-rankers. _I'm gonna get that Bane and I'll- _

"I have gathered you all here," Inspector Barkley began, "to tell you of some very important news. As I speak, every country in the world is having a meeting for every Interpol agent stationed there. There seems to be some sort of world-wide group, threatening… well, we don't know what yet," he paused. "What we do know, however, is that they are a Russian Mafia of sorts. We originally thought that a man by the name of Dimitri Alexandrov was the head of the organization, but we have found some evidence that he is perhaps, playing second fiddle to someone. He never meets with him in person. We haven't a single trace of who he might be."

This news left everyone in a sort of shocked awe. Wow. There hadn't been any actual organized crime like this in years. And it was international? Sly didn't envy the man that that organization was after.

The man arrived in Beverly Hills three hours later than Bentley and Penelope. He had his limo waiting for him, as always. The driver, Albert Favreau, the man's professional that drove him everywhere, already had Bentley's address into the GPS and as soon as the man stepped into the limo, they set off. The man's expensive phone rang. It was Dimitri.

"Sir, we are approaching the house now," he said in his husky voice.

"How many men have you got with you?" the man asked, in his cool, calm voice.

"Twenty sir," Dimitri replied, proud of how cautious he was. The man grunted.

"Hopefully that will be enough." Dimitri was slightly taken aback. Surely twenty had to be enough!

"Uh, yes sir that should be enough," he said.

"We'll see," the man said and hung up. Dimitri looked at his phone. _Surely twenty men are enough. It's a mouse and a turtle in a wheelchair! _

"Sir, we're here," Dimitri's driver informed him. They were in a little suburb, Bentley's safe house looking no different than the acres of houses surrounding it.

"Good. Inform the men to rush the perimiter. I'll give the signal to knock down the door. Go ahead and slash the vehicle's tires. Oh, and toss a few smokes in there." The men jumped out of their vans and rushed the house. Two men slashed the car's tires and looked in the garage. Nothing. "Okay, bring her down!" Two men kicked down the door swiftly as the others tossed some smoke grenades through the windows. They all pulled on their gas masks and rushed in, through windows and doors. They all carried assault rifles with their flashlights turned on. Dimitri took out his flashlight and snapped it on top of his customized Desert Eagle. It had been tweaked for rapid-fire, laser sight, blade, and grenade launcher. It was his ultimate weapon. The men rushed every room on the first floor in less than 15 seconds. "Check the surrounding properties," he ordered four men. They rushed to the backyard. _Wait what's tha... Oh no. _ The explosion ripped through the still air and threw them all back, except for the unlucky four men that triggered the mines. Dimitri swore and jumped back up. The other men got up shakily as well. "Damnit. You two, check up stairs." The two men ran up the stairs. Dimitri looked around for some papers, clues, anything when another explosion rocked the second floor. _Idiots. _

"There they are!!" someone shouted from outside. Dimitri and all the men ran to the backyard.

The backyards were seperated into neat squares by weak wooden fences. One of Dimitri's men was on a property diagonal from theirs, standing on the fence, pointing frantically. Dimitri jumped on one and saw an expensive car rocket toward the man on the fence. He yelped but the car still crashed into him and skidded onto the road. It then sped off.

"Get them!"

Bentley drove like a madman, trying to get away. His wheelchair had been heavily customized to stow away easily, for quick getaways. It was now in the back seat, bumping into the windows, roof, Penelope. Bentley was trying to shake these men and insane driving was necessary. The men hadn't taken long to jump back in their cars and follow. Pedestrians jumped out of the way and other cars skidded and crashed. Suddenly the engine stopped.

"Oh no. How expensive is this car again?" Penelope asked nervously.

"You got it. It's got that new system. Shuts down the engine and locks the doors," he told her as he dug around the already hot-wired vehicle. "Don't worry, I can start her up again, just need some time."

"We don't have any, Bentley!" Penelope yelped as she saw the advancing cars.

"Make some!" he replied. She quickly dug around her bag and pulled out their saviour. She threw it out the window and grabbed the big control.

"What the bloody 'ell is that thing?" Dimitri's driver asked.

"What is this, a joke?" he responded. "Shoot it!" The men all wore earpieces so they could hear each other. Every machine gun was now on the little RC Chopper as it approached.

"Oh, you're in for a big surprise!" Penelope sneered as she maneuvered her chopper over and around the gunfire. She let loose about five bombs. The men drove right into them. The cars exploded, flipped and crashed. At least, the minority ones did. The more heavily armoured ones just stopped. Penelope continued her attack on the cars, as they desperately fired at the elusive chopper. The engine suddenly started up again.

"Okay, we're good to go!" Bentley cried gleefully as they sped off again. Penelope opened the window and flew the chopper in.

"Ooh we might need to get her patched up again Bentley. Those men have better aim than I thought." Bentley glanced at the scratches and one actual hole.

"No problem, Pen, we can fix it once we get away." They drove a little too fast at one intersection. A limo suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Bentley's extensions stomped on the brakes, but it was too late. They crashed right into the side of the limousine, and flipped right over! The limo was heavily armoured. Very heavily. The car did a couple of flips and landed on the other side, facing their armoured foe.

Bentley was fighting for consciousness, his head raising from the steering wheel slowly. Penelope was out cold. The back window of the limo lowered a little, revealing two red eyes, pointy ears, fur... This all happened in a span of three seconds, and he was off again, reversing and drifitng to turn the car around. He drove away from the accident as fast as he could. The eyes scared him; maybe even invoked... nostalgia? _No, it was just some hot-shot in his limo that we crashed into. Nothing more. _

The bridge ahead of them was closed. Bentley swerved onto a makeshift ramp made by some punks. The car flew up, the adrenaline waking Bentley right up. He reached back for his wheelchair and opened the doors with a button on his side.

"Sorry, Pen," he muttered. He pushed her out of the car just as he jumped off too. He just barely managed to snap open the wheelchair and sit on it before activating the jets. He flew under Penelope's flailing body and scooped her in his arms as they fell... to the boat below. Five men tried making the jump too. Three made it. Dimitri watched on earnestly.

"Back in the cars," he growled. "Go!" They all piled back in the cars and drove along beside the river.

It was a delivery ship of sorts. Some workers jumped back in shock as a turtle descended from the sky with a mouse in his arms.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you can't be here, you're gonna have to clear outta he-" Bentley answered with a swift wheelchair spin to the face. Penelope was up again by this point.

"Wait, wha-" she started.

"No time, Pen! We're still getting away!" She ran alongside him now and they turned int a narrow little hall. One of the men followed them and stepped right on Bentley's bomb. _One down, two to go. _ Penelope got her RC Car out and dropped it. The other bull dog Russian ran around a corner just to see the tip of Penelope's tail. He sneered and ran for her, machine gun up just as WHAM! the RC Car's shot hit him square in the chest, knocking him back. This was followed by a wheelchair landing right on top of him, knocking him out. Bentley smiled and said,

"Just one more, Pen!" She also came running and brought the car. The last man was nowhere to be seen. Bentley and Penelope walked around cautiously, looking for him.

"Where the-?" Bentley started just as Penelope screamed. Bentley jumped around quickly just as the last man, a bat, dropped from the roof. He knocked them both over. Penelope was first to react, trying to kick the man in the chest. He grabbed her foot and sent her flying. Bentley then shot a dart into the man's back He was strong, so he only got dazed. Bentley shot another and followed by a wheelchair spin. The man grabbed Bentley by one of the wheels, just as he activated the jets.

"AHHHH!!" the man screamed in pain as the flames engulfed him. The RC Car drove under him, knocking him over. Penelope followed with the RC Chopper, pouring water over him. The men were all out.

"Come on, Penelope, we got to get out of here," called Bentley as he rolled down the hall. Penelope followed. Bentley's wheelchair activated his cellphone. "Call Big Buck," he ordered the cell.

"Hello?" came the other line.

"Hey Murray, we got attacked too! Yeah, we're okay buddy but listen we have to get out of here so don't send the package. You take it yourself to London, England, okay? Yeah, the coast safe house. Okay, I'll see you there."

One of the henchmen decided to fake unconsciousness some more. Dimitri would find this information very interesting.

the extensions are something Bentley uses to drive. They are like rods to push the pedals and he controls them with his mind, it's a nerve-operated system he invented, not unlike prosthetic limbs

A/N Okay, there you have it! I will continue to write and please keep reviewing. I will try my very best not to give up on this story again. Thanks for reading and REVIEW!!


	6. The Missing Piece

A/N Man, I am so juiced right now!! I just wanna write this baby up! Well, yeah hope you enjoy! Oh, and sorry for that weird extension explanation I tried to put the little star sign but it didn't process so I guess I'll number things from now on!

Chapter 6- The Missing Piece

Bentley and Penelope had left their assailants far behind, jumping off the boat under the cover of some trees. They then escaped to an airport, and took off to London.

Murray, driving the Lady Victory, had driven to Buenaventura, and then took a ship through the Panama Canal, to the Dominican Republic. From there, he took a ship to France, and drove to England. He reached London late one night, two days after the phone calls. Their safe house was a little crooked house at the end of a street. Behind it, there was a little forest of sorts, for getaways.

Murray drove the Lady Victory into the garage just as Penelope came out of the house to greet him.

"Bentley's asleep," she explained as she led him into the house. The time machine gear was already strewn around the living room. There was a graph chart tacked to the wall, with a giant red circle around a sketch of... something. It said SONIC POWER CONVERTER but Murray did not know what that meant. Penelope saw him looking and said, "Yeah, time machine's not going so great." She led him upstairs and showed him his room.

"Boy Penelope, I'm starving!! Sorry, but you got anything to eat?" he asked, rubbing his big pink belly.

"Sure thing big guy. Triple stack sandwich coming up," she responded.

"Uhhh can you make it four?" he inquired. She laughed and left. Murray lay down in his bed and thought back on the good old days with Sly and all of them together… When Penelope returned with his quadruple-stacker, she found Murray already asleep.

"So are you psyched about that cruise or what?" Sly asked Carmelita. She laughed.

"Oh yes, I'm really 'psyched'," she joked. They spoke of the Interpol cruise, first vacation in, well just about a decade. The cruise was going to travel out of England, go to Ireland, Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy. Then they would return back up, travel to Sweden, then Finland, and all the way to Washington D.C. This job always had them travelling.

"Cooper," came a dark husky voice. "Did you fill out that paperwork for your museum incident?" Bane asked. Sly turned around slowly. _Calm yourself, Sly. _

"No, not yet Bane. I was gonna get around to that just as soon as you gave me my long overdue pay check," he replied casually.

"Watch it Cooper," he said darkly. "Your insubordination will cost you dearly."

"Is that a threat?" Sly responded, taking one step forward.

"Make of it what you will, but I swear-"

"Okay boys, break it up!" Carmelita said, pushing them apart.

"You heard her, down boy!" Sly mocked. Bane looked just about ready to pounce on him, sharp teeth bared when Inspector Barkley called him for some mission briefing or other.

"You two got to get along better in the future."

"The sonic power converter," Bentley began, "is something of immense power. Enough to completely wipe out a whole city. Or power a time machine. The nuclear power is amazing and that is why we must be so careful." Murray and Penelope were sitting at the table as Bentley spoke to them of their next mission.

"Well then I don't suppose they'll just hand it over then right?" Penelope said sarcastically.

"Actually, if we play our cards right, they will." Murray had his arms crossed the whole time.

"Uhhh… okay, but when do I get to crush some skulls?" Bentley looked at him nervously.

"Well, if something goes wrong, you're going to have to crush everyone's skull."

"All right! Sounds good to me."

"Where is the converter exactly?" Penelope asked.

"A chemical testing lab down at Kingston. Won't take long to get there." He had a good feeling that nothing would go wrong with their plan. He was wrong.

The man got the call he knew he was going to get from Dimitri.

"Sir, we lost them. They made a dangerous jump that I was not prepared to risk my men fo-"

"Yes, but I was! You watch your authority Alexandrov. Those are my men, not yours. You are not boss, I am. Now you better have a lead or I'll have your wolf head on my wall!" Dimitri gulped.

"Yes sir! We do have a lead actually! One of our men heard the turtle speak of London. Yes, they were going to England, I believe. Well, we'll send some men to Ontario as well then. No, not much. Just that it was some sort of coast safe house. Yes, sir, thank you, sir." The man closed his cell phone. He would get the Cooper gang. The turtle was intent on escaping again and again so he figured he would treat him the same as Cooper. Even the hippo had gotten away. _Maybe I can even track down those new members that helped with the Cooper vault…_

Sly and Carmelita were "doing their rounds" in his car when the radio crackled to life.

"**Break-in in progress! Band of three thieves stealing dangerous explosive from Kingston Chemicals. Should be considered armed and dangerous." **Carmelita had Sly off her in a second.

"Let's go Sly," she said, revving the engine.

"Come on, hon, let's let the locals take care of it!" Sly replied pleadingly. She smiled at him.

"Oh please Sly, could anyone handle this better than us?" She had a point there. Alone, they were deadly, but together they were legends. (A/N Yeah, that's from X-Men Legends which I don't own either, or anything else from X-Men) Carmelita drove like a maniac. Sly loved it. Siren screeching, they zoomed down roads, making people run or drive for their lives. They even took some shortcuts through the woods. Carmelita drove dangerously but she knew what she was doing, which was good. One wrong move and they would be expelled from the windshield at this speed. Soon, the chemical plant came into its full, haunted house looking view.

"We're too late!" Carmelita grunted. There were several police vehicles parked outside, one undercover. _That better not be-_

"Bane Calligan's already inside, guys!" called one officer. "You better hurry. We sent some guys in but they haven't come out. Carmelita pulled out her Shock Pistol.

"Let's go," she said in that growl that Sly loved.

"Right behind ya, Captain," Sly smiled. They ran into the plant, pistols up, ready to catch whatever scum were in there.

The plan hadn't gone well. Not at all. They entered casually. Their moustaches were secured, their disguises flawless. IDs that could pass every check imaginable.

"We're here for Item #3987, sir," Bentley had told the guard.

"You from the Pyrotechnics Division of Donald University?" he asked sceptically.

"Sir, we're just deliverymen, now would you kindly pass the cargo so I could go home?" Bentley continued.

"I'm gonna need ta see your ID sir," the guard answered, bored.

"I believe we already showed you, _sir_," Penelope countered.

"This be one important piece o' hardware, ma'am. Now let's see those IDs." All the while Murray shaking with anger. _Come on, give it to us or I'll tear your head off! _They handed him the flawless IDs.

"May I go ahead and call your supervisors?" he asked as he shuffled away.

"No I don't think that would b-" Bentley started.

"Wasn't a question, four eyes," the guard called back.

"THAT'S IT BUDDY! YOU GOT THE MURRAY COMING AFTER YOU!" Murray roared.

"The Murray?" the guard said aloud, remembering some memory from the news. "Oh no." Murray pounced on him, sending him sprawling a couple of meters away.

"Oh yeah! The Murray is in town!" he cried triumphantly.

"Murray!" Bentley cried. "Quickly, grab the converter!" Instantly, they all ran down the warehouse, passing the giant shelves. They looked for # 3987 to no avail. The boxes weren't in order!

"Come on Murray, let's ask the gentleman how to find our converter..." They headed toward the guard, looking as ominous as possible while Penelope kept looking.

"All right, bum! Where's the whatchamacallit?" Murray asked.

"Sonic power converter," Bentley said to the half conscious guard. "Wait, what the...?" He opened the guard's palm to see a little blinking button.

"AHHHH!" Penelope screamed.

"It's a silent alarm Murray!" Bentley whispered. "They must already have Penelope!"

"Then let's go!" They ran down the hall to where they had heard Penelope. They saw flashlight beams and hid behind some shelves. More lab security had arrived, about ten of them. Two were pulling the gagged Penelope away.

Bentley, incredibly, was the first to let his anger take hold. He jumped out and wheelchair-spun one guard in the face. The others converged around him so he dropped a bomb and jumped straight out of the circle. They were all blown back. By now Murray had started a fight with the biggest, the one with a golden badge. He presumed he was the leader. They struggled for a while, but Murray was quick to flip him into a shelf. Bentley was already finished with the two that had grabbed Penelope. His wheelchair fighting had gotten a lot better in the past year. More guards started pouring in.

"I'll hold them back!" Murray shouted. Bentley wheeled back to the guard, Penelope behind him.

"HOW DO WE FIND THE CONVERTER?" Penelope and Bentley shouted in unison. The guard laughed. Bentley took out a bomb and set it to ten seconds. The guard went pale.

"Eight seconds..." Bentley counted. "Five...four...three..."

"OKAY OKAY!!" shrieked the guard. Bentley tossed it back, helping out Murray a little with all the guards.

The guard led them to it, a big box at the end of the storage warehouse.

"Thank you kindly," Penelope said. The guard nodded slightly, and then ran away. She ran down the hall a little for a forklift. With it, they got the box and drove to the entrance, where their fake delivery truck waited.

"Okay, come on Murray, we're good t-" Bentley stopped suddenly. The sounds of fighting had stopped.

"What the...?" Penelope started just as a furry, strong paw reached through one side of the shelves and pulled her through. Bentley quickly jumped on the shelf, using his jets to get to the top. Bane had beaten him to it.

"Uh-oh," Bentley muttered, just as Bane's strong paw whacked him right off.

"Yee-ow!" Sly heard the yelp once he stepped in with Carmelita. _Could it be? _No, he decided. Carmelita saw someone running because she suddenly jumped up with her giant leap and landed far out of reach. Sly climbed one shelf, looking out into the room. His shoulders slumped and he almost cried with joy. His buddies, Bentley and Murray! _Wait a second... _They were scared! Murray pulled Bentley behind him just as a monster pounced on them both. Bane Calligan!

Criminals were forever terrified after being busted by Bane. They said stories, about him looking like a monster but Sly always thought they were all insane. Turns out they were right. He had his sharp teeth bared, his eyes red. His claws looked longer, more menacing, and drool dripped out of his giant mouth. He was a little more hunched over, always ready to pounce. Sly jumped down lightly and ran to the control room as quickly as he could.

"Lights out," he muttered. Sly shot at the controls with his electros, turning off all the lights.

Penelope ran away, trying to get her RC Chopper. Suddenly, she saw another police car arrive. She ran the other way. _If I can just get around them... _

"Freeze, slime!" shouted the too well-known Carmelita Fox. Penelope couldn't beleive it. Out of all the schmucks on the force, they got Bane Calligan, Carmelita Fox, and... Her face lit up.

"Sly!" she shouted aloud. Carmelita landed in front of her.

"What about Sl-" she recognized her then. "Penelope? Is Bentley here?" She shook her. Penelope kicked her in the leg with amazing speed and ran away. Carmelita jumped in front of her again.

"Why you..." Suddenly the lights went out. Penelope used this chance to run, heading for the small dot of light coming from one window.

Murray braced himself for impact as he saw the monster of an officer running at him again. _This guy is ripped! _He tried to grapple Bane but he threw him with minimum effort. Now, Murray wasn't easy sailing for Bane, not by a long shot. Bane was just a little better than Murray. Murray landed a nice punch right before Bane struck him again. He then jumped towards Bentley. Murray jumped right in front of the blow, getting ready for impending hurt... The lights went out all of a sudden.

"Come on!" urged Bentley. They ran away from Bane, but his eyes quickly adjusted.

"Come back here criminals!" shouted the angry wolf. He ran after them, on all fours. Suddenly some strange blue lights hurtled toward Bane and struck him, giving him a nasty shock. A dark figure jumped on him, whacking Bane with the bottom of his electros, where there were small C's.

"Sly," breathed Bentley and Murray in unison. Calligan pounded him off.

"It's me Cooper, you little imbecile!" shouted Bane.

"Oh, I'm sorry," gasped Sly through the pain. "I coulda sworn you were the big guy!" Bane growled and continued running after Bentley and Murray.

"You go buddy, I'll hold him back!" Murray shouted.

"No!" replied Bentley defiantly. "We can do this. _Together._" Sly got the hint. He ran behind them, and for one split second they were the Cooper Gang, getting ready to take on some powerful foe.

But then they were swept back into reality, a little harshly. Bentley went flying back as Bane landed a punch. Sly jumped back more, helped Bentley, and shouted,

"Hold it criminal!" He shot off three shots at Murray, and Murray jumped out of the way, the shots hitting Bane instead.

"ARGHH!!" Bane lunged at Sly, knocking him over. "Let's settle this, Cooper!" He jumped at him again just as Murray grabbed his boots, tripping him.

"I don't think so buddy!" He threw him several meters down the hall.

Sly was grateful for Bane's response. Now he didn't have to be so sneaky with his attacks. Bentley and Sly threw themselves at Bane, punching and kicking anything that Murray wasn't handling. Bane reached for his high-grade Shocker and blew Murray way back. The Shocker was a sort of electric shotgun that you could hold in one hand.

"Boy," Sly breathed as he pounded Bane, "I can't see anything."

"Neither can I!" shouted Bane as he smashed Sly right through a wall! They were now in a lab, full of little bottles and strange liquids and computers and whatnot.

"Time to wreck this place up!" shouted Murray as he picked up a bottle and flung it at Bane. He screamed in agony, as the chemical seemed to be acidic. Bentley grabbed a couple of bottles and started mixing them up, studying each label carefully.

"Murray!" Sly called. "Protect Bentley; I'm sure this is something good he's cooking up!"

"Yeah!" Murray called back and they stood in front of Bentley, like the good old days. Sly shot off some blasts, keeping Bane down. Bane fired off one of his huge shots, almost hitting Murray again. "That's it buddy!" he shouted as he ran right at Bane. Some strong force came out of Murray as he battled with Bane. They were now equally matched, both titans destroying anything that came in the way of their destructive confrontation.

"Finished!" called out Bentley, raising a large jug with a green liquid over his head.

"And that would be...?" Sly asked.

"A highly explosive chemical," he said proudly. Then he added, a little sadly, "Good for, you know, a getaway." Sly held back the grief. A getaway for Bentley and Murray. But Sly would stay behind, as was his duty.

"Argh!" screamed Carmelita as she ran through the hole, RC Chopper right behind her. Penelope ran along behind, controlling the chopper expertly, shooting Carmelita with everything.

"Penelope! Go get the van started! We're getting out of here!" Bentley quickly poured as much of the chemical as he could into a smaller glass bottle. Sly ran at Carmelita and shook off the chopper, making sure not to hurt it.

"After her!" Carmelita shouted as Penelope ran through the hole, back into the large storage area.

"No wait!" Sly responded, holding her. "Let's uh... help Bane!" he finished. Murray and Bane were still in their heated battle. Carmelita frowned slightly, but nodded. They ran toward Murray and Bane. Sly shot off some high-powered bolts at Bane, shocking him badly.

"Sly!" Carmelita shouted, incredulous. She ran to help up Bane.

"What? I have bad aim!" he explained. Murray ran back to Bentley.

"Sly, clear out of there, trust me!" Bentley shouted. Sly had to decide. Leave the woman he loved or his friends forever... again. This time he chose his friends.

"I love you!" he shouted to Carmelita as he jumped away. Bentley threw the chemical, breaking it. It released a thick vapour, sending Carmelita and Bane into a coughing fit.

"Let's go guys!" Murray shouted over the coughing. They ran back into the storage area, just as the Cooper Van drove right into the building.

"Get in!" smiled Penelope.

Sly, Murray, and Bentley jumped into their getaway vehicle.

A/N Well, I hope you liked it! I'm actually going to start writing the next chapter right now! REVIEW!!


	7. Idea

A/N Well, I hope you liked the last chapter I posted! This is the turning point of the story, and it's going to be mostly the fun, happy, Sly Cooper that we loved. Mostly.

Chapter 7- Idea

The Man sat in his London hotel room watching the news. Hundreds of deaths caused by exploding jumbo jets in France. Next. Beverly Hills home ripped open by explosions.

"Dear God," the man muttered. He picked up his phone to call Dimitri.

"Yes sir?" he answered rather carefully.

"How's our man in Interpol doing?"

"He's doing well, I suppose sir. I mean, I can't be completely sure but-"

"He's not doing his job! He's supposed to cover up our stories!"

"Well yes sir," Dimitri stammered, "but I'm afraid we have been raising hell! A whole lot of it! I mean, we really should be more careful!" The Man hung up. Punishment would come later.

The van rumbled sleekly through the small streets. They had come up in a small town and were now headed to a drive-in theatre, just another van in the crowd of mooching teenagers. Murray struggled into the back with the others. For a moment they all stared at each other.

Sly remembered stealing a priceless piece of art from the Museum of London once, the very same museum he had protected not too long ago! He started to laugh the most contagious laugh on Earth. The gang started laughing, Bentley nearly falling off his wheelchair. Murray patted Sly on the back while Bentley shook his hand. Penelope hugged him, all the while laughing.

"It's so great to see you, buddy!" Murray laughed.

"We've missed you, man!" Bentley practically cried.

"Yeah, Sly, we really have!" Penelope nodded.

"I've missed you guys so much!" Sly laughed.

After a full and rich five minutes of laughing they settled down.

"So, Sly, I see the Interpol business is going well," Bentley stated.

"Uhhh yeah actually, as far as pay goes. Wouldn't mind some more permanent lodgings but what you gonna do?"

"Hey Sly how's Ms. Fox!" Murray asked.

"Oh she's great," Sly chuckled.

"Well we've all missed you Sly," Bentley started carefully, "but we have important business to attend to."

"Shoot," he responded calmly. It was just like the good old days! It looked like Bentley was about to reveal his master plan. Sly could feel his fur bristle with excitement. The nostalgia was overwhelming!

"Now, to put things simply, Penelope and I are attempting to build a time machine. We have pretty much all the tools necessary except for the sonic power converter," he said, waving his hand at the large box.

"OK, but since the item's stolen, why do you need me?" Sly asked, confused. Bentley eyed Penelope nervously.

"Well, we don't need any thieving Sly. We're here to warn you. Some men, maybe a kind of Mafia have been following me from France."

"And me from Bogotá!" Murray piped up.

"They've obviously been trying to kill us," Penelope put in. "We've been lucky to escape so far."

"We have nothing on their group affiliations, name, nothing! We just know that they're aware of the time machine, and they're willing to do anything to get it!" Sly looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"I don't get it. Why would they kill you if you haven't even made the machine? They need you alive don't they?" Now it was Bentley's turn to be puzzled.

"Well, yes I suppose, but…" He looked weakly at Sly. Bentley truly had no clue as to what these men wanted.

"What if," Penelope began, a thought forming in her head, "they want us dead? They don't care much for the time machine at all!"

"But the guy in Bogotá asked me for the package," Murray said, grateful to be of some use in this conversation.

"What if they want both?" Sly inquired.

"That would be probable, but why?" Bentley asked.

"Oh, just about half the world wants us dead, Bent," Sly yawned, "We've stolen, thrown in jail, just generally beat up, and ruined a _lot _of people."

"Yes, but they wouldn't come _after _us! These men are world-wide Sly! They really look like some sort of Mafia," Penelope interjected. They all jumped up slightly when Bentley's laptop beeped. He took a quick look and chuckled.

"Speak of the devil, huh guys?" he said, showing them the laptop.

On it, in big bold letters it said,

**WILD BUCK'S PARK OF DREAMS**

COME JOIN THE WILD AND WACKY FUN!

"Well that's all very interesting," Sly almost laughed, "but what's it have to do with us?"

"Wild Buck is our one lead on our attackers," Bentley smiled. He typed something in and showed them a picture.

Wild Buck was a… well buck with long, strong antlers. He had a stone expression and a scar running from his temple to his cheek. He wore a Canadian Mounty's uniform, and a sword was sitting heavily in its sheath.

"How do we know he's our guy?" Murray asked, massaging his knuckles while he imagined ramming his fist into Buck's face.

"I made a big search over a wide net. Very hard to track down. I looked for henchmen of this sort. Henchmen for hire, suited baddies. As I said, this was a very wide search. This Wild Buck, his theme park went down the drain. There was some scandal about Buck having ties with the Mafia. Some nearby theme park's managers, all doing a lot better than him, suddenly died. Buck was seen with suited men from then on. Bankruptcy got his theme park, but no one wanted the property. He supposedly still lives there with all of his armed security. They look like the same guys that were following us around."

He started typing furiously into his laptop.

"Uhhh… Bentley?" Murray asked. Penelope shook her head.

"Once he's like this, he won't stop until he finds something out," she smiled.

"That's Bentley for you," Sly chuckled. Bentley continued the tapping.

He went through investments, employee charts, personal information and all other kinds of files before he got to funding.

"Eureka!" Bentley cried in joy.

"What you got?" Sly asked.

"His colleagues. They're a group of five. Wild Buck, Anna Condis, Master Shan, Hawkeye, and Fang. They're always shipping weapons to each other, funding each other's respective businesses, and are all in someone's payroll.

Sly smiled.

This was great! It was perfect! Just like the good old days. They would go to the people's domains, work their magic, beat the people up, and then on to the next one.

"So we got a plan?" he asked excitedly. Boy, these guys were no different than the Fiendish Five or the Klaww Gang! They would take them out easy and get rid of a giant world-wide organization while they were at it. Just another adventure.

Sly was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't catch Bentley's put-down. They looked at him strangely. He shook off his dazed smile.

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked, his mind in the conversation again.

"I said there won't be a 'we' in this Sly. I can't allow you to leave Ms. Fox now that you finally have her!" He looked at him seriously.

"What! You guys are my friends! I have to go with you!" he exclaimed. Murray looked uneasy.

"Well Sly, you do have a pretty good gig with Interpol," he said carefully, "a legal gig." Sly smiled disbelievingly.

"Guys, if I was scared of the consequences I wouldn't have gotten in this van and escaped!"

"We could use Sly's expertise," Penelope pointed out. Bentley shot her a look.

"Listen Sly, we'd obviously love to have you back but you're in too deep. I mean, look at you! Criminals shake in their boots when you arrive. They're more reluctant to commit crimes in the first place!" Sly put his hand on Bentley's shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"Bent, whoever these guys are, they need to be stopped." He said nothing else and sat back. Bentley shook his head and laughed.

"There's just no way I can argue with you, is there?" Sly smiled. "But how can you help us without destroying your Interpol relationship?" Sly frowned.

"What do you mean?" he inquired. Penelope sat up.

"Well, let's face it. As much as you want to help us, you want to keep Ms. Fox. Am I correct?" Sly nodded, a little guiltily. "So, there's got to be some way you can help us, without damaging your relationship." They sat there for a while.

"How about Sly says he has to go away on a house call?" Murray offered. They looked at him incredulously.

"Uhhh, Murray," Bentley said in a slight whisper, "it's a well-known fact that the Cooper Family is… well… non-existent."

"Its okay buddy, you don't have to whisper. No harm done," Sly said.

"How about _this_?" Penelope asked excitedly. "We kidnap Sly!"

A/N There it is, hope you liked it! More coming soon! REVIEW!!


	8. Face to Face

A/N :D I think this chapter is my most intense so read on, my friends!

Chapter 8- Face-to-Face

"I'm telling you, that's all I know!" Sly shouted angrily at Inspector Barkley. He was being debriefed for the millionth time and they _still _wouldn't let up!

"Did they-"

"NO! They didn't say anything, where they were going, plans, nothing!" Sly continued exasperatedly. Barkley sighed.

"You sure?" he persisted.

"Yes I'm sure!" Barkley studied him very carefully before nodding.

"Go get some rest, okay?" he said before getting up and leaving. Sly sighed and followed him out. He couldn't blame them for not trusting him. But that rest sounded like a good idea. His head was killing him…

**llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

The newly-named and painted Cooper Van drove past the peaceful country.

"I still don't get why I had to hit Sly so hard," Murray started again. Bentley was getting irritated from the same conversation over and over again.

"To make it believable, Murray," Bentley sighed.

After their little planning session, Murray had reluctantly knocked Sly out cold. They later dumped him somewhere the police would have to find him. Sly would then stage that he had just gotten in the van to try to find out more about their plans, but they had been smarter and knocked him out.

"Okay Murray, enough detouring, the heat probably died down by now. Let's head back to our place and get ready," Penelope ordered.

"Aye, aye captain!" Murray said jokingly and sped back to London.

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

The Man had gotten the tip on the Kingston Chemicals incident. It seemed like their sort of thing, and considering the sonic power converter was the only thing stolen, he was sure it was them. They needed that baby to power up the machine. His phone rang.

"Yes?" he answered.

"We've got a lead. Witnesses say they saw the van sped out and traveled north-bound. Only Fox and Calligan were found after the fight. Cooper must've gone with them," Dimitri reported.

"That's all?" The Man asked angrily.

"Well yes, sir, this news is hard to come by. But uhhh… I've sent men to look for them… wait a minute." The line was silent for some time. Alexandrov's voice came back sounding excited. "Sir! Our Interpol man just reported that Cooper was found beaten up and dumped at the side of a road!"

"Thank you," The Man answered and hung up. Cooper was quite the sneaky devil. But was that it? His friends had dropped by to warn him… and that was all? They were planning something. He dug around his cabinet for the right USB chip. The Man picked a little packet that said "HIGH SECURITY SHIELDS" and then picked out "WATERWALL X-6" He connected these little suckers onto his laptop and began hacking into Interpol. The USB data helped greatly. The shields could protect him from almost anything Interpol could throw at him and the waterwall helped greatly to keep the firewalls at bay. It was funny how he could pretty much crash Interpol if given enough time and data. But that wasn't what he was looking for. Actually, he didn't know what he was looking for.

After a couple of hours of hacking he found something interesting. Interpol cruise. He almost laughed. Looked like they were taking a top-secret break. That was probably their best chance. He called Alexandrov.

"I want us on the maiden voyage of the Great Mary tomorrow. You got it? Make sure to make room for about thirty men. We're going to get Cooper," he said casually into the phone. Dimitri answered with a quick "yes sir" and hung up. They would find a way. They _always_ found a way.

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

Bentley was busy mixing away with some chemicals or other, and Penelope was hacking and looking at what seemed like boat charts. This sucked. Murray had nothing to do but sit around and watch TV. If he asked what he could help with, Bentley and Penelope would say "get ready for tomorrow". What did that mean? Do push-ups? Sit-ups? He felt useless so he went out for a quick walk.

The crisp London air was great. The sky twinkled with some barely visible stars. Murray dashed through some tress and ended up at the park. He enjoyed playing on the swings for a while but that made him feel more utterly useless. Then it came. The shrill terrified scream of a woman.

Murray ran toward the noise but someone had beat him to it. Murray ducked behind some bushes and saw a man walking into an alley.

"Now, you let that young woman go, you hooligans!" he shouted. Murray heard laughter in the alley as the man was pulled into the alley. Murray had seen enough. He jumped right in. Some common enough thugs were there, along with the scared woman and weak man.

"Who the hell are you?" one thug asked.

"Come here tubby," another laughed, shaking around a knife, "let's give you a nice little weight-loss operation." The others found this hilarious.

"Laugh all you want evil-doer! But the Murray is gonna pound you a new one!" he cried triumphantly. They all bum-rushed him but he simply jumped up and landed behind them. He obviously had more battle expertise than they did. He used a trash can lid to smash one guy over the head, and a trash can to dunk a guy in. He continued with a wild flurry of punches that landed each time.

"That was easier than I thought!" Murray laughed. The woman and man thanked him graciously but he stayed in the shadows. "No problem, my good Londoners! Remember to stay away from dark alleys!" Murray then jumped behind some bushes and ran as fast as he could for some more cover. He hid behind a tree and heard the man say,

"Where'd he go?" Murray smiled. He supposed this was how Sly made his sudden exits.

Back at home, Bentley asked if Murray really wanted to help out with something. Murray grinned and responded,

"I already did my workout!"

**llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

"Nothing?" she asked yet again. _Boy, she's even worse than Barkley! _Sly was now being interrogated by his lovely Carmelita. But he knew why she was so worried. That perhaps the gang's reappearance had triggered some memory. After all, he did have "amnesia".

"Nope. But I figured since they kept calling me they knew me. From my past," he said as convincingly as he could. "I only left you there to find out more stuff about who they were… who I was." Carmelita looked down in shame. He wondered if she would tell him the truth so he tested it. "Who were they, Carm?" He saw her turn away and… wipe away some tears?

"Just some common criminals, Sly. You busted them many times and I guess they're back for revenge." Common criminals. She could've at least said master thieves! Sly nodded slowly. Hey lay down again and Carmelita walked to the window. She stayed there for the longest time. _What's she thinking? _Sly actually didn't care. She was lying to him. How could this relationship work if they didn't tell the truth to each other? _How could it work if they didn't lie? _He pushed the thoughts out of his head. The most important thing was to get this guy… whoever he was.

**llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

The Man looked at the boat. It was a beautiful vessel.

"Oh, welcome Mr. Gout! Please, follow me," said a little nervous boy. The Man was Mr. Zeke Gout, senator from Russia. At least for however long this would take. Dimitri would follow close behind as a high-class English fop. Their men were mostly engineers or lucky citizens that got in to the boat. The captain and a choice few others knew this was an Interpol cruise. It looked like just normal people. Clever authorities. Now to find Cooper.

**llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

Bentley looked at the cigarette boat. It would do.

"I'll take it," he said to the scruffy bearded man selling the thing. "Mr. Edmund Scoresy" and his associates got in. As soon as Bentley had the boat running and out on the water, Penelope and Murray began unpacking. All the chemicals Bentley had been mixing the previous day were either explosives or gasses. Penelope took out some metal parts and began putting the grappling hook together. Murray flexed. They were ready.

**llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

Sly walked along the bow of the ship with Carmelita. It was a beautiful ship. The Great Mary was huge. Not Titanic huge but it was big. The inside was very elegant too. Sly and Carmelita had great accommodations, even better than some of the other agents'. It was great, yet he still felt a rift from the day previous. This wasn't a real relationship. It was built on lies. All of it. And if the truth were discovered, the relationship would be over.

He looked at Carmelita. He thought she could feel it too. The gap between them. The one that could only be sealed with truth. Truth that could destroy everything else they were standing on. She really was beautiful though. Especially in that dress. They were, high-class citizens after all. Sly liked his tux too but he secretly couldn't wait to get back into his blue outfit. His mask…

"Are you okay?" Carmelita asked. He looked at her. She had a stern expression on her face.

"Yeah," he responded simply.

The ship's horn blew him right back to Earth. They were leaving the dock. He was ready.

**llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

"Located him, sir," called Dimitri in The Man's earpiece.

"Excellent," he answered. "Mobilize the men. Have them ready to strike as soon as we're off the dock."

"Yes sir," grunted Dimitri. "The helicopter is en route." The Man directed his attention to the PA. The captain was saying something about some slight difficulties. A great big wolf came up behind him.

"You are?" Bane asked coldly.

"Mr. Zeke Gout, good sir. And you…?" he responded calmly.

"Mr. Bane Calligan." The Man looked at him closely.

"Everything's going fine, I hope?" he asked, gesturing at the PA.

"Everything is perfectly fine." The Man nodded and sipped his wine.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," The Man said politely. Bane nodded curtly. He walked away. He'd heard Bane was quite clever, but still lethal. He hopefully wouldn't be a problem. His earpiece crackled to life.

"Sir, we're ready."

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

The maiden voyage of the Great Mary couldn't have been going better. Everyone was enjoying themselves. Sly was dancing with Carmelita under the stars. It was night time, and the inky black water gently lapped under the boat. Inside, everyone was laughing and having a good time. And watching. Outside on the black water were some British people enjoying a ride on the cigarette boat. But they were all waiting. Waiting for the time to strike. Finally the moment came.

The Man had been steering clear of most people when possible, but definitely had been staying away from Sly Cooper. Dimitri was watching him. Finally Barkley announced that it was time for the masquerade. The Man slipped on his owl mask and walked out elegantly onto the bow of the ship. Cooper and Fox already had their masks on.

"Move in," The Man whispered into his mouthpiece. A helicopter appeared from the dark clouds and slowly descended above the boat. Sly suddenly took Carmelita's hand and they walked into the ship.

"Damn it," he heard Dimitri sigh.

"Don't worry. Just have the boys 'escort' Mr. Cooper back outside," said The Man.

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

Bentley rode the black cigarette boat right up next to the ship. They were hard to spot and in the last couple of hours Bentley had made it radar-proof.

"Come here Pen," Bentley asked. She scooted right next to him and took over the wheel. It was hard to keep the boat under control with the giant Great Mary right beside them but they had to be close for this to work. Bentley turned to Murray.

"Okay buddy, plan's the same. Drop in, jump out. Got it? No head-smashing unless absolutely necessary." Murray nodded.

"I'll take the boat around to starboard okay guys?" Penelope said.

"Alright," Bentley responded. He took the large grappling gun out and aimed. The shot wasn't really very loud, so Bentley felt more confident about their plan. The hook hit the top of the boat and sank into the metal with its little built-in laser. "Okay, go now!" Bentley hissed at Murray. Murray fastened the little apparatus to his belt and pressed a button. It shot him right up to the top at breakneck speed. Some agents only had time to gasp as they saw some pink blur shoot past their noses. But they were half-drunk so they just laughed about it. Bentley snapped the rockets onto his wheelchair.

"See you later, hon," Bentley said to Penelope and he rocketed off. The rockets he had attached to his wheelchair were boosters, things that he could use for a short amount of time to get to high places. He landed on the top, where Murray was struggling to unclip himself from the grapple. Bentley did it for him.

"You ready pal?" he asked.

"Oh yeah! I'm pumped!" he responded.

"Then let's do this."

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

Sly had his simple half-mask while Carmelita looked like an exquisitely beautiful flower with her mask. They were dancing joyously, but Sly's heart was heavy for he knew he would have to leave soon.

**llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

The Man saw his boys walk toward Cooper, looking very much like other dancers around him. Slowly and carefully, they pushed him toward the exit. Sly started making a scene. _Damn. _

"Tell our guys to back off," he ordered Dimitri. "They're making too big a fuss."

"Yes sir," Dimitri responded. The men eventually left Sly alone.

"Listen Dimitri, I know that they're planning something. I just don't know what. This is our only change to take Cooper. Is the helicopter in place?" he asked.

"Yes sir, we are all prepped," he answered. The Man sighed. It was the only choice.

"Take him by force. Make it fast."

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

Bentley hooked Murray up again and planted the many bottle of explosives.

"Here we go," he said through gritted teeth. He gasses were inside the vents already. He pushed the button and the gasses were released instantly.

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

Sly saw some more men walk up to him.

"What now?" he asked irritably. One man punched him in the face and they quickly grabbed him. "What the…?" Sly twisted out of their grip and pulled out his electros. The other agents pulled out theirs too. Suddenly, a bunch of engineers flooded out of one door and attacked the agents. One of the men stuck a needle in Sly but he shot him and pulled out the needle. _A relaxing agent. What's going on here? _He had no time to think as another man grabbed him. Carmelita made quick work of him. Suddenly one man just tripped and fell. Sly himself felt woozy. _Guess they got more of that stuff in me than I thought… _Sly felt himself falling to sleep when he remembered Bentley. He slipped on an oxygen mask he had in his pocket. The plan! He had forgotten all about it because of whoever these guys were. Suddenly the roof exploded. Some small bits of debris fell here and there but no one was hurt.

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

_What the devil? _He was losing his chance! The Man wouldn't take failure. He jumped at Sly and brandished some silver C shaped weapons…

**llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

"Go now!" Bentley shouted over the explosion. Murray jumped right in and Bentley followed. They both landed right behind Sly. Everything was going fine.

"Nobody move or I kill him!" Murray shouted as he held a fake knife to Sly's throat. Everyone stood still. Wait a minute. Something was up. There had already been a fight?

"AAARGH!!" One man jumped out of the pale-faced people and landed in front of Sly. He had an owl mask on but behind it Bentley could see those same red eyes… Sly blocked one of the man's hits. He had some sort of smaller silver canes… very similar to Sly's cane. Murray punched the man back into the audience and then pulled back his fist again.

"Not too hard, not too hard!" Sly whispered as Murray's fist came down on Sly's face, knocking him out.

"We're out of here! Thank you for being such a great audience!" Bentley called as Murray was pulled back up by the grappling hook, Sly in his arms. Bentley used the last bit of juice his boosters had to get back to the top.

Instantly, the agents were running about, trying to get to the top. The engineers ran too, as fast as they could. But Carmelita simply used her giant leap to get up to the roof.

"HOLD IT, SLIME!" she shouted at Bentley and Murray. Then, whispered she continued, "I'm not letting you take him." She had tears in her eyes. Bentley looked down in shame.

"I'm sorry Ms. Fox but we need him," he answered sadly.

"I need him too!" she replied, fully sobbing now. She raised her gun and fired off some shots. Bentley and Murray jumped right off the boat, over the side.

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

The Man fought off two agents with his canes. They were easy. He quickly climbed up a pillar and jumped neatly through the hole in the roof. Captain Fox was there, sobbing here eyes out. He figured she might be useful… Bane jumped up in front of her and growled at The Man. He pulled back and ran.

"Are you okay?" Bane asked Carmelita. She said nothing.

**llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll****llllllllllllllllllllllll**

Penelope felt them land in the boat, nearly flipping it.

"Whoa boys!" she exclaimed.

"We need to get out of here Pen!" Bentley shouted over the racket. She nodded and sped off on their sleek little cigarette boat. It was a clean getaway… right?

A/N Hope you liked it! I feel the parts with Sly and Carmelita are the most emotional pieces I've ever written, since I'm not that good with romance. Thank you for reading and REVIEW!! (next chapter up soon hopefully)


	9. Accusing the Victim

Chapter 9- Accusing the Victim

Sly woke up with a terrible headache. For a minute he wondered where he was. The room was dark and very, very hot. Sly realized that he had a large blanket over himself so he shook it off immediately.

"Hey, I think he's awake." Sly heard the voice like if it was underwater. There was a vibration, kind of like the room was… moving? He sat up instantly and remembered everything that had happened. Bentley and Penelope looked at him concernedly.

"You okay buddy?" Bentley asked. Sly suddenly realized he was in the Cooper Van. He simply shook his head. Penelope handed him a pill and a glass of water.

"Take this," she said. "It'll help with the headache." Sly nodded his thanks and swallowed the pill.

"I'm sorry buddy!" Murray said from the driver's seat. "I had to make it realistic!" Sly laughed.

"No problem, Murray," he responded. Whoa! That pill worked very quickly. He could already feel the headache dissolving. "So… what's up?"

………………………………………………………………………………………………

The Man got off the helicopter rather shakily. They had tried to give chase to Cooper and his team but they got caught up in a fierce storm. He was now somewhere in Africa. Even now, he could see the storm clouds from far away. Dimitri walked out of the helicopter. He was barking something or other into a large walkie-talkie.

"Sir, they'll be here in about an hour," he reported to The Man. He just nodded. Cooper had gotten away.

"Damn it! We can't let Cooper escape! This capture has a lot of sentimental value to me, understand?" he shouted. Dimitri nodded.

The Man looked away in shame. He had to keep his emotions in check. Eventually Cooper would come to him. Him and his whole little gang. They would come. And he would be ready to receive them.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"Are you guys ready?" Bentley called down the house.

"Affirmative!" called Penelope.

"Yup!" replied Sly.

"Uh-huh," Murray said from beside Bentley, carrying a small bag. Murray was always the one ready quickest, seeing as he had the least luggage. Penelope brought some crates in with a hand trolley.

"Hey big guy, can you please put these in the van?" she asked.

"Sure thing, Penelope!" Murray replied. He picked up the crates and walked outside to the van. Sly walked in with a red backpack.

"Okay I'm set." Bentley looked at him. He smiled.

"Are you sure you want to walk around with that fancy tux? We wouldn't want you to ruin it, would we?" Bentley gave him a bag. Sly looked at the bag incredulously.

"Is it…?" he began. Bentley only smiled and nodded. Like a child on Christmas, Sly ran into his room. Five minutes later, he walked out.

Blue. That was what struck Bentley first. The blue looked darker, it looked different. But it looked like Sly Cooper, Master Thief!

…………………………………………………………………………………………

There was havoc in the Interpol building. Everyone was running around in a great panic. People barked orders into phones, ran around with papers, typed rapidly, or filed out paperwork.

Barkley walked into Carmelita's office. It was completely dark except for the flicker of the computer screen. She sat there, slumped in her chair.

"Uhhh… Ms. Fox?" he called. She didn't look up. She just stared at the computer screen. "Listen, Carmelita, we need those witness reports… I know this is hard, but we need your help to figure out what the hell happened." She didn't respond. She just stared at the computer screen. Barkley sighed and left.

"You see what I mean?" came a voice behind Carmelita. Bane slid out from the dark corner he had been hiding from Barkley in.

"No, he's probably just asking him… something," she responded desperately. Bane sighed as he walked slowly in front of her.

"When are you going to come to terms with the fact that Cooper is a liar?!" he exclaimed. She looked up at him, her eyes cold.

"Sly is _not _a liar! Get out of my office right now Calligan!" She got up and ushered him toward the door.

"Not without the video," he responded calmly, striding over to her computer and taking the disc. "I will present this to a judge. I will get experts to prove my point. And I will capture Sly Cooper!" With that, he left the office. Carmelita collapsed into her chair. _Oh Sly, please don't let any of this be true! _Then, as an afterthought, _Because I'll kill you myself if it is._

A/N There, a short little chapter, kind of like an intro. It's like the story's about to start, since Sly just got back with the gang. Next chapter up soon. REVIEW!!


	10. A Friend in Need

Chapter 10- A Friend in Need

The private jet left the ground sleekly. It was like a silver bullet, zooming through the clouds. Inside, the Cooper Gang relaxed. The guy that let them use the plane was an old friend of Bentley's. As they flew, the London house was being ransacked by suited men. Unfortunately for the gang, The Man knew of Bentley's connections. And this guy was no different.

"Sir, the turtle is calling in a favour from that buffoon McSweeney," reported Dimitri. _Yes, _thought the Man. _McSweeney. Had to remember to eradicate him too. _"Apparently Bentley busted McSweeney out of the life sentence. Got him transferred to a corrupt prison and according to our inside man, bribed the warden. Since then, McSweeney has made a prosperous business selling antiques. Antiques probably collected from his thieving days." The Man nodded.

"Thank you, Dimitri."

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Murray was enjoying the flight greatly. He had never been in a jet quite so fancy. It had a private bar, plasma TV, some great food, but best of all it had video games! He liked to look out the window and at the delicate clouds. They were so frail. Behind Murray's macho exterior, he was a gentle giant.

"Everyone buckle up; prepare for landing," crackled the pilot from the intercom.

"All right!" exclaimed Murray. He liked the jet just fine, but he couldn't wait to get back to the pavement.

They all buckled in safely and looked out their perspective windows. The clouds were still pretty thick. Murray could see himself imagining them as big grey monsters, but more importantly, him beating up the big grey monsters. Soon the clouds started to thin and the gang looked down eagerly. Below them was the airport, stretching out for a mile. The jet landed a little shakily, but the flight had been pretty much all smooth sailing. The jet drove into the hangar where the gang got off.

"Thank you very much," Bentley shook the pilot's hand. "Tell McSweeney I send my regards." The pilot nodded.

"Will do, Mr. Bentley." The gang walked out onto the large hanger. They didn't know that they were being watched by cold wolf eyes. Sly was the first to notice something was wrong. As he stretched he saw a small metal canister rolling towards him.

"Get down!" Sly shouted as he jumped away from it. But the canisters surrounded them. Sly actually jumped on top of another as they exploded. Acrid gas flew up into the air, clogging up their noses and filling their lungs.

Sly remembered waking up once or twice and falling back down. Finally he got up shakily.

"Come on buddy wake up!" Murray was shouting at Bentley. His stronger system had probably fought the gas best. Sly was second; Bentley and Penelope would be waking up last.

"Hey buddy," Sly said weakly.

"Oh good gods! Man I thought I was the only one that survived or something! I was hollering at you for hours!"

"Hours!" shouted Sly, shocked.

"Well, maybe just half of one, but still," he replied sheepishly. Sly chuckled.

Sly looked around the hangar and found a tape. There was a little sticky on it that said WATCH ME.

"Will do," he muttered.

"Oh thank the gods!" Murray shouted again. _Guess Bentley's up, _thought Sly.

"Okay guys; let's get to the safe house."

"Safe house?" said Bentley weakly. "They probably know where that is too."

"Exactly," said Sly. "But if they wanted us, we would be dead right now."

……………………………………………………………………………………………

They slid the tap into the VCR. The screen crackled a little, before showing a dingy little room with dirty tiles and matching floors. Whoever was filming wasn't exactly a pro, as the film shook a lot. Suddenly the camera turned to show a lizard chained to the wall.

"You really need to relax, guy," said the lizard weakly. "This isn't cool. And you're messing up my silky-smooth suit." A large wolf hand came out and gave him a good smack.

"If you ever want to see your friend again come to…" But Sly was totally zoned out. All he could see was one of his old enemies turned friend being tortured because of him. He was going to save Dimitri. No matter what.

A/N Sorry again short chapter but next one's going to be good! So I'm finally going to start the heists! :D


	11. A Little Rusty

Chapter 11- A Little Rusty

Sly couldn't believe it. After getting over the shock of Dimitri's torture, and then turning off the tape altogether, Sly really started thinking. They were going to go to where they were holding Dimitri, and save him. And then it really hit Sly what they were going to do. Now, the unseen wolf had said that they would meet there and have a trade. Obviously, it was a trap. So they were going for some classic break-and-rescue.

He couldn't wait. The thrills of having Bentley explain their missions and then going in. Sneaking around, taking out the guards, stealing the plans. It would be great. It was impossible that there would be any disruptions. Just impossible.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"Ladies and gentlemen," Bane started coolly. "I have with me a tape and the agreement of two very distinguished gentlemen that point to Mr. Cooper being a criminal." He stood before the jury, addressing each and every one of them with a cold look.

"Those are some very serious accusations," said the Honorary Judge Mavis sternly. "Do you wish to continue?"

"I do," he replied curtly and moved to the television. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Exhibit One." He slid a disc (that he had locked in a metal case) into the DVD and pushed play.

The screen flickered to life and showed the security cameras from the Interpol cruise. It showed the scene on the cruise where they were attacked by the masked men. The jury clearly saw a large explosion and two men drop down and hold Sly Cooper hostage. A little bit of an attack occurred from one of the masked men, But Cooper and the hippo pushed him right back. Bane had edited the tape to zoom in on Cooper. The hippo was going to give him a good smack when, clear to the jury, and everyone else present, Sly said something before getting knocked out.

"I have two graduates of Yardley and Barker, top of their class, highly intelligent, _and _Interpol has called on their services before. Sir Lewis Cheam and Mr. Charles Mont." Two snobby looking men in expensive Italian suits walked forward. Sir Lewis, the gopher, spoke first.

"We have spent gruelling hours turned days studying this video, we assure you," he said dramatically.

"Frame-by-frame, slow-motion, zoom, everything, my dear distinguished people of the jury," and as an afterthought, "Judge Mavis." Mont (a ferret) was just as snobbish as his colleague. Now it was back to Cheam.

"In our professional opinion, the very same that Interpol has counted on before to convict criminals, we believe that Mr. Sly Cooper, the defendant, was pleading with the hippo to not hit him too hard." A slight pause for… dramatic effect perhaps?

"'Not too hard, not too hard' to be exact," continued Mont. The jury was actually gaping. One of them thought he saw Calligan smirking slightly.

"Slightest bit of a smirk, really," said Cheam.

"Yes, yes definitely. Why would Mr. Cooper be smirking to the man that was attacking him?" The two men were playing tennis with Sly Cooper's fate. And the jury was eating it all up.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"There it is," said Bentley. The gang was standing on a small ridge of plant and stone, binocucoms withdrawn. They were all looking at a dark fort standing on top of a hill. It looked well guarded and hard to reach. Little flashlight beams moved to and fro; laser sights for guard's snipers were zooming all around the place.

"Looks fun enough," Sly muttered.

Getting to Brazil was easy. Bentley had drawn them up some quick fake ID's, they had gone to see a guy to get them fool-proof, got some quick disguises, some stories, backgrounds, and were on their way. From the Brasilia airport, they travelled by hired jeep to Paraná River and travelled by boat to Sao Paulo. It took a little longer than simply flying, but it helped them appear in more places, confuse the cops.

And now Sly stood there looking at the fort where Dimitri was being held hostage.

"Okay guys, first thing's first," started Bentley shakily. He was remembering the days when this came naturally to him. Now he had to think about it a lot more to get the words out. "We need a safe house. Safe place to fall back on." They looked at him. He gulped and continued. "Penelope, I need you to do some reconnaissance with the chopper. Sly, continue to observe the guards, look for ways to intercept. And Murray, study the area, look for a way to get the Cooper Van out safely and quickly." They smiled.

"Nice! Now that's what I'm talking about Bentley!" Sly patted him on the shell.

"Right on it boss!" Penelope smiled and gave Bentley a quick kiss before unpacking her RC things.

"Sure thing, buddy!" Murray replied before starting to trudge away.

"Remember guys, keep in touch! Don't turn off your binocucoms!" Bentley called to the gang.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Penelope put on the large goggles she used to see whatever the chopper was seeing. Steering it through the thick jungle was a little bit difficult at first, but she grew accustomed to the branches and vines. After clearing the treetops she faced yet another hardship. Birds from the area were apparently very stupid and kept swooping down to try to catch the chopper. This didn't' hurt the chopper much, but it was a nuisance and kept knocking her into the trees. Plus the stupid birds were hurting their little feet on the blades.

Penelope had enough and decided to start discharging little electric shocks whenever a bird would attack. She had installed this little system just in case the chopper was ever in the wrong hands. And no matter how stupid the birds were, they understood that the little buzzing thing hurt, and hurt=bad. She continued towards the fort.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Murray trudged through the thick bushes and creepy-crawlers. After a while the vines exasperated him and he pulled them right down if he were to come across one. Now, normally Murray hated these kinds of jobs. But today was his first heist in about a year! Boy was he excited to be working with the gang again. He would be _more _excited when he got to crush some people but this would definitely do for now.

He circled the fort in about half an hour. It wasn't very big but the vegetation didn't help his trek. Finally he got a little closer. Some ruins jutted out of the ground like the jaws of some long-dead creature. There were a couple of guards here hoisting heavy machine guns. How he longed to pounce! But he didn't, and turned back slowly. After another twenty minutes of searching he found a nice little path. I looked deliberate, but this road had been made long ago, for the weeds were growing knee-high. He did some quick "calculations". The path looked wide enough for the Cooper Van to fit through. It would take some tricky handling but Murray was confident in his skills.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sly had found a giant tree on top of a ridge that was even closer to the fort. There had been men around, but Sly snuck around them and scurried up the tree quickly. He studied them carefully, using his criminal and Interpol knowledge combined.

The men were all sturdy, strong looking men at around their 30's. They carried a standard AK-47 except for the occasional heavy machine gun that was manufactured who knows where. Possible hunting knife held in their boot sheath and a pistol at their hip. Standard enough Kevlar vests hung sloppily over their muscled physiques.

Well, this was certainly going to be interesting.

The Interpol knowledge helped greatly of course but the thief in him kept checking which one would probably have some nice stash with them. That one, probably, that one, heck no, that one, for sure. He made a little mental checklist without knowing it. _It's in my blood,_ he figured.

Sly began to study the men he could see inside the fort. The fort itself looked like a small castle, complete with battlements. There was one sentry at each tower with a sniper. About six men patrolled the whole perimeter of the fort, swinging their flashlights around, gun strapped to their back. The lights in the fort were on and Sly could sometimes see a shadow walk past the windows.

He decided it was time to move. Sly climbed even higher and slid down a mossy trunk. Jumping through the thick vines and running on a thin branch right over a guard's head felt right. This was the true Sly Cooper. He was a thief. Not an officer of Interpol. He stuck to the shadows, remaining unnoticed. He was simply that. A thief.

……………………………………………………………………………………………**...**

"Okay guys, scratch the safe house," Bentley reported to his team through their binocucoms. "This place here is pretty cozy." Bentley had decided to move around a little himself. After manoeuvring through the thick trees, he found a little pit. There seemed to be a breeze emanating from the very ground.

He set up his laptop on a stump and opened the group's binocucoms.

"Okay guys, how goes it?" he asked.

"There seems to be a small crack on the south side of the fort but… I _think _Sly might be able to squeeze through," reported Penelope.

"There's a path perfect for the van leading out of the main doors!" Murray chipped in.

"The guards look tough, but they're just well armed. They don't know how to hold the guns. They're not pros. Probably some mercenaries," finished Sly.

"Perfect, guys. Okay, Penelope, send me your images. Head on back guys, we've got some planning to do!"

…………………………………………………………………………………………**..**

"Carl Burns. Joe Cleveland. _Muggshot_," Bane stated matter-of-factly, accentuating Muggshot's name. "The list continues. I am, once again, just proving that if Interpol has fully relied on Cheam and Monty's decision before, why not do it again? I mean, we did send Burns to jail for life with no evidence whatsoever except for their word!

A slight mutter passed through the jury. Judge Mavis looked terrible.

No one could possibly imagine what was going through her head at that moment.

"Cooper's record. A successful criminal, well trained in hand-to-hand combat, and always has those "electros" of his clipped on his belt. Cooper's had training in tae-kwon-do, kung-fu, and jujutsu. We mustn't for get whatever behind-the-alley moves he knew from his criminal days."

"Cooper's most recent victory, in the Museum of London, may raise some eyebrows over his helplessness in the cruise. Boom weighs in at 270lb. Cooper defeated him with absolutely no backup. How is it that he could not have pummelled the hippo into a little pulp?"

"Out of line!" cried Mavis.

"My apologies. But everyone here sees my point. Cooper _wanted _to be kidnapped. He planned it with his little thief friends that night at Kingston Chemicals. Sly Cooper left Captain Carmelita Fox and I gasping for breath from some gas the turtle made to drive off with his friends. His little excuse was less than satisfactory."

"Distinguished people of the jury; Judge Mavis. Sly Cooper is guilty."

……………………………………………………………………………………………

The gang moved in on the fort.

Bane's men suited up to begin the search for a guilty Cooper.

Carmelita slapped her badge on Barkley's desk and walked out of the office. She had a fire so intense in her eyes that everyone backed off.

And, even Judge Mavis swallowed the last of her pills before a crazy smile broke her face in two.

The hunt for the Cooper Gang had begun.

A/N Well, I hope you liked it! I'll try to start on the next chapter tomorrow. Much thanks to GregsLabrat for the review! Hopefully I'll be getting some more!


	12. Double Dimitri

Chapter 12- Double Dimitri

This room wasn't exactly his style. It smelled bad and there was some filthy puddle collecting in the corner. Little bugs would crawl out of cracks in the walls and flutter around in the little shafts of light that shone down from the roof. The room itself was tiny. A cube of white tiles (or at least they were supposed to be white) except for the roof which was made out of bars. Probably 2x2; it was more of a closet than a room. They would hang a little bird feeder of some sort from the bars so it was always right in front of his face. Excruciatingly humiliating.

He himself was chained right up to the wall, spread-eagle. There were chains on his wrists, ankles, and neck that hurt very much when he got too tired and let himself go from the wall. He almost killed himself like that when the chains cut off his air.

Dimitri was not pleased.

The large metal door flew open and the wolf entered again.

"Ah, just who I wanted to see! Hey, loosen up these chains, will ya? It's kinda hard to breathe when I try to sleep; you know what I'm saying, brother?" He got a smack for his troubles.

"Shut up, you stupid lizard. My men sighted your friends at the Brasilia airport. Looks like they're coming to rescue you, you lucky worm." He filled the bird feeder and made his leave again. Dimitri uttered some profanities at the unnecessarily cruel wolf and tried to readjust himself on the chains. They had better be coming, or he was going to bust out himself and kill them for being so tardy!

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"Definitely," said Sly assuredly. The crack looked like enough room for him to squeeze through.

"Okay, excellent. I am currently downloading the blueprints for this fort. It was made in 1868, during the Paraguayan War. It was simply a small fort to house the soldiers while they recuperated from battle injuries. It wasn't made to stay for a long time. My guess is they were forced to abandon it at some point. All your reconnaissance images show ruins around the fort. Those are probably crumbled walls. It's very fragile, so Murray will probable be able to smash his way out, should anything go awry."

"Excellent!" he cried out. Penelope giggled.

"Love your enthusiasm," she laughed. Sly smiled despite himself. Since they were going to get Dimitri back, they might as well track down the rest of the gang and find out who was behind all this as a team, right?

"Sly, that crack will get you into the armoury. As far as I can tell, you should head down the western corridor to the staircase. From there you can get to the third floor and head to the northern side of the fort. The control room should be there. Open the gates and try to keep them open." Sly chuckled slightly at Bentley's subtle "keep them open". That left an awful lot of breathing room for him to come up with some creative ideas.

"Penelope, I'll need you to drive in with your RC car and locate the nearest computer terminal. No need to sneak around. They'll know we're here as soon as those doors fly open. Hack in and find out where they're holding Dimitri. I meanwhile will have set up several small explosives around the premises. Murray, under Sly's direction, will find and bust out Dimitri. Let's hope it'll be smooth sailing."

**SLY AND THE GANG IN:**

**DOUBLE DIMITRI**

A/N Sorry for the delay yet again! Now things will be really heating up. I'm going to introduce my heist chapters and really get this story going! This chapter was an introduction of sorts to the heists.


	13. Double Dimitri I Setting the Trap

Chapter 13- Double Dimitri I

**Setting the Trap**

Bentley left the snug little vine safe house to set the bombs. These would serve as enough of a distraction for Murray to pass the premises relatively unmolested. The rest of the gang stayed behind to prep themselves for their own jobs.

Murray had been using two large branches as dumbbells; Sly had been crawling under the thick vines of a tree and spooking Murray or Penelope when given the chance. He was very good at fitting into little spaces and popping out at you. Penelope was tweaking the car to go as fast as possible, cleaning her goggles, and so on.

It had been quite difficult for Bentley to traverse the mossy, muddy terrain at first. After getting his wheels stuck in a large patch of mud for the fifth time, he stuck to flying. Bentley rocketed up to some branches and observed his surroundings. There was a guard coming up now. He figured he could do with some practice. Bentley aimed with his binocucom at the guard's thick neck. One clean shot was all he needed. He fired. Instead of the guard flopping over, however, Bentley simply heard a little hiss of air. The guard continued his rounds, unaware that anyone had been planning to use him as target practice. _Damn! Bentley, you foolish thing you! I forgot to load the darts! _

He dug around a little compartment where he kept spare bombs and darts. He found one and aimed again. This time the sleek dart went flying right into the man's neck. He was out cold instantly and fell over drunkenly into a bush. Bentley used his PPP (Pick Pocketing Pole) to pull the guard behind a large tree.

"So far so good," he muttered to himself.

Bentley continued flying for tree to tree, using as much cover as possible. He decided to hide from the remainder of the guards. There was really no need to take down the fortress himself is what he reasoned. He finally got to the southwestern corner of the structure. The idea was to get the guards as far away from the north gates, and in extension Murray, as possible.

He grabbed one of the little camo satchels he had made at the safe house from the back of his wheel chair. After checking for guards, he glided down to the mossy corner. He ripped apart some of the bushes and vines and placed his package underneath it all. On the back, he punched in the "ready" command for the bomb. He covered the bomb in some vines, grass, leaves, and flew back up to his tree.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Barkley was in no mood. Carmelita had gone AWOL; Cooper was as well, but oh, that's right! He was still a criminal! Calligan was off gallivanting around after him with half the damn force and even Mavis had gone missing yesterday! So much for a relaxing cruise.

He was up to his chin in paperwork. The secretary-general himself was on his case. This is what they called a clusterfu- well, never mind that. He hadn't seen the light of day for two days, making phone calls, signing sheets, and writing reports. Phillips, one of the interns for his secretary Linda had been bringing him coffee every two hours. He had even had an energy drink. The one time he left the building was to have a cigar, and that was in the dark of night.

Gladys was obviously not pleased.

"You let your dinner get cold," she had said over the phone. It was with a playful tune, since he had done this so much already. She had apparently not heard about the insane cruise. All she knew was that he was coming home. Well, that was what she thought.

"And there will be more of that to come. Listen, I can't leave my office or the Big Boss will have my head on a silver platter."

"Big Boss? Mr. Interpol Head is on your case, huh?"

"Yes he is and unless I do all this paperwork, he'll have me locked up for life on a driving without a license charge." She laughed.

"He's that high up, is he? Well, have fun over there, darling. Say good night to your children." She then passed the phone around To Marsha, Patrick, and Ricky for their own customized good nights. Marsha's was "be good or the Boogeyman will take your Barbie dolls." He improvised with Patrick, who had just lost a tooth. "Be good or the Tooth Fairy will skip you on her Tooth List." Moreover, Ricky got a "goodnight son", for there was not much you could threaten a 16 year old with. _Be good or the Rap Monster will take your Rock and pump its own brand of rhyming tunes into your head. _Barkley wasn't much of a rap person. Or a rock person, for that matter. He continued his paperwork and hoped that everything would settle down soon.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Bentley found his next corner. He zoomed over to it and started reaching for his next satchel.

"Freeze."

Freeze he did. There was a cold barrel sticking into the side of his head. Bentley managed to catch a green blur using his peripherals. _Sneaky son of a gun was using camo. I guess the gang failed to catch these people. _Bentley put his hands up, as was customary with people being threatened at gunpoint. "You and your little gang think you're real clever, huh? We had you since Brasilia! You really mustn't underestimate your enemy like that, you stupid little thing." Bentley lowered his hands defiantly.

"I couldn't agree more," he grunted before boosting up and delivering a swift wheelchair spin. The man fired off some shots and fell over from the unexpectedness of the blow. Bentley wasn't hit as far he could tell; he must have missed. The man was on his side and lifting his weapon for another go.

Bentley examined this man. He was definitely professional. The camo suit wasn't bought at some army surplus store like the mercenaries. It had been tailored to fit him perfectly and made with some kind of Kevlar material. The weapon was a kind of sub-machine gun with a green scope. It was camo'd as well. The man held the gun in a special ops trained way. In addition, when Bentley had flown up and whacked him, a man of lesser training would have shot desperately. This man shot few and precise shots. He saved his ammunition. One more clue he had was that the man had pressed the gun to his temple. Clipping him with a single bullet there would kill him for good. Many would simply stick their gun in the side of someone's head. Although this guaranteed results as well, the temple was the way to go.

Bentley could make these observations in a split second.

The man raised his weapon again so Bentley rushed him. He needed to make quick work of him, he knew. He sent another successful spin to the man's gun this time. It went flying and snagged in a bush. The man tried swinging at Bentley, but he simply flew up and landed on him, making sure his booster jet engine was in the man's face.

"You better not give me any reasons to jump," he sneered. _Another enemy downed _he thought triumphantly. The man gave him an evil smile. It changed to a growl in a split second and the man pushed Bentley off. Bentley activated the boosters with great remorse. He wasn't a murderer. Well, he was in luck.

The engine burped out a little membrane of flame that barely carried him two meters. Puzzled and slightly alarmed, Bentley checked his wheelchair. He soon saw that there was no need. The man had in his hand a knife, slick with oil to the hilt. His chest was also shiny and black. Bentley saw his wheelchair squirting out more fuel by the second. _Uh-oh. _The man ran at him with his knife threateningly raised. Bentley tried wheeling backwards but ended up getting his right wheel stuck in the mud. He desperately reached for anything that crossed his fumbling fingers in the compartment area of his armrest. His fist closed around a little ball of sorts. He hurled it at the man's face just as he jumped up to plunge the knife into Bentley's neck.

The man screamed and grabbed his face. The little ball was fastened tight. Suddenly Bentley remembered what the ball was. His grapple cam! The little spikes it used to hold on to things were deep in the man's face. Bentley pressed a button to bring his binocucom out and shot the grapple cam to a nearby tree. The man got up holding his face, blood dripping between his fingers.

"Sorry," Bentley mumbled (he really was) as he shot the man with a well-placed blaster shot to the chest. The man hit the wall and fell unconscious. Grapple cam still hot from firing the shot, Bentley put it back in his armrest compartment. "Now to finish setting these bombs."

A/N There, Bentley's first official mission. Yes, these mission chapters are intended to be short. Next, Sly's mission! Read on!


	14. Double Dimitri II Sneakin' In

Chapter 14- Double Dimitri II

**Sneakin' In**

Sly was ready to stick his head out from the bushes to scare Penelope. This should shock her so much that she would fall in the small swamp beside them. Unfortunately, before he was able to, he heard a squishing sound coming up on the safe house. He quickly had his cane out until he heard they were simply Murray's footsteps.

"Hey there," he said casually. Murray put Bentley down on the little stump that seemed to have been made to accommodate his shell.

"Thanks for the pick-up, buddy," he said to Murray. Around twenty minutes after Bentley had set off for his mission, their binocucoms crackled to life. It was Bentley, requesting to be picked up. Now, sitting down on his stump, he inspected his wheel chair. "Look at what they did to my wheel chair!" he grumbled.

"Who's they?" asked Penelope concernedly. A light went off in Bentley's eyes, something as clear to them after years of knowing him as the sun in the sky.

"What'd you forget to tell us?" asked Sly with a smirk.

"Professionals. There are pros here. He had a camo suit, and you could just tell the guy had training. My guess is that there is a bunch of them all over the place. He said he knew we were here since the Brasilia airport. They're probably with that group, the one that's been following us around the world." This concerned the gang greatly.

"Let's get this over with and get out of here," whispered Sly and jumped out to the thick jungle. Bentley was instantly on his laptop. Sly climbed up a tree and flicked on his binocucom. He saw the blue signal at the back of the fort.

"Everything's uploaded into your binocucom, Sly," Bentley said. Sly's icon said "Sneakin' In". Sly couldn't help but grin. Bentley always made things a little more fun to do.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

All of Sly's things were gone. Carmelita cut open the mattress, turned over his wardrobe, but there was no trace. Did he want to be caught? Sly wasn't stupid, she knew this as a fact. In addition, if he had been "kidnapped", why would he have packed his things?

For her investigation's sake, she was assuming Sly masterminded it all. It was obviously not true but she needed something to be figuring out. He had packed up in quite a messy hurry. Many things had been overturned, drawers pulled out, even the rug had been ripped out and floorboards wrecked. He must have been getting his secret stash (just treat him as a criminal, Carmelita, bear with it).

Carmelita was having a hard time pretending Sly was guilty. Yet Bane's evidence had been pretty concrete. He was probably just undercover. A cover so deep that only the Queen knew about it. Maybe that was it. What poor Carmelita didn't realize was the man hiding in the closet. As soon as Carmelita went to look for clues in the washroom, he shot off to the balcony. He fumbled a little bit with the lock of the balcony and opened it as fast as possible. Damn thing squeaked. Her pulled out his pistol should the detective come around the corner. She didn't. He quickly jumped out over the railing and landed on an air conditioner three stories down.

Carmelita jumped around the corner with her gun raised as soon as she heard the intruder jump off the balcony. She peeked over the balcony cautiously. A suited chimpanzee was making his escape from flagpole to flagpole, air conditioner to air conditioner, and pigeon net to pigeon net. Carmelita followed suit. She hopped down on top of a wobbly flagpole and observed. He was fast. Suddenly, his pant leg snagged on an old air conditioner. She continued her descent but knew that she wouldn't reach him before he freed himself. Carmelita jumped into a balcony and opened the unlocked door. She didn't find anyone and ran out the door.

Carmelita ran down the staircase as fast as possible. He had been about four stories down. She ran to the apartment she thought he was in front.

"Police, open up!" she cried.

"Wha-? Who the hell? I haven't done anything! Leave me alone!" a man cried from inside. Carmelita kicked the door down. It hit the man on the other side and he yelped. "Police brutality!" he shouted as she ran past him and looked around his balcony. The chimp had freed himself and was continuing his descent. She almost went after him but something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was a piece of fabric from the man's pants. She picked it out of the hazardous air conditioner and placed it in a plastic baggie.

Carmelita saw a brief glimpse of purple before flying across the balcony and hitting the wall. The man had sneaked up on her and struck her.

"You tell Dimitri I'm still coming for him you little rat!" he cried. Carmelita fired off a quick shot at him. He struggled with the electricity but continued towards her. "Rat… I'll kill you!" She jumped off the balcony and held onto a flag one floor down. She shimmied over a little and then jumped back on to the balcony. McSweeney was caught off guard. "Huh?" was all he managed to get out before she gave him a good dosage of electricity. He fell over still twitching from the volts going through him.

"I think it's time for a little interrogation."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sly studied the guard's vest. It hung loosely over his structure. He saw the problem. The straps hadn't been securely fastened. This was going to be practice. Sly dropped right on top of him and gave him a good smack with the bottom of his cane. The guard pulled Sly off and threw him a good distance. _Stupid move. _Sly was still used to his pistol moves. No more pistol whipping. He had to go over the Thievius Raccoonus a little more. He raised the C of his cane, as if seeing it for the first time.

"Oh crap," he moaned. The man ran at him and smacked him in the face with the butt of his weapon. It was hard to stay conscious after a blow like that. Sly sent out a kick and jumped up using his arms to land on the guard's head. Not remembering much of his cane technique, he decided on repeatedly swinging it at the small of the guard's back. It seemed to get the job done, as the guard groaned all of a sudden and fell over. He then proceeded to twitch like a cat's tail when it's annoyed. Sly didn't know what nerve he had hit, but it certainly took the guy down.

He suddenly remembered something he had done in France a couple of years ago. A security guard had caught him stealing some painting or other. He had rushed Sly with his baton drawn. Sly had (gracefully, effortlessly, whatever he was not now-y) jumped over the bewildered man and hit him two quick times in specific places of his back. He had done it precisely as the Thievius Raccoonus had shown and yielded perfect results. He had lain there twitching as this guard now lay on a bush, twitching away. Sly remembered being proud of himself for doing it correctly and Sly was no murderer so he figured the guard would be fine.

He dumped him under some large vines and continued on his trek. Sly had some trouble holding the cane in his mouth as he scaled the slippery tree. Climbing came naturally, just not _gracefully, _which was what Sly Cooper was all about. He used to be carefree about his work. Climbing and running on thin lines of any sort were as elementary as breathing. Sly slid down a vine but almost lost his balance and went tumbling down to the trio of guards down below. He decided to stick around for a while to see what they knew.

"- took down Budlovsky just like half an hour ago!" one was saying.

"Yeah I saw Johnson and Santiago pulling in one of them Special Ops guys too. His face was real bloody and messed up," said a skinny fox.

"Special Ops? You mean them camouflaged freaks that the boss brought with him?" he whistled. "I thought them guys was tough."

"Hey Matheson," said the first one into his earpiece, "you getting all this?"

"Yeah! I hope it's not that Murray guy, I have nightmares about him!" came the scared voice on the other line.

"I hear he rips people's heads right off!" said fox guard, adding fuel to the fire.

"Yeah, Majal, the one that was stationed in India, he said that the hippo guy, what was his name, Murray? Yeah, that guy, he fought Rajan one-on-one, mano a mano!" added the third.

"What?!" came the earpiece. "I seen a picture of him, the guy's a tank! Murray won I'm guessing. Well, I'm keeping my back to a wall I don't need no damn hippo-"

"Ladies, cut the social chit chat!" came a coarse voice to all their earpieces.

"Yes sir," they all mumbled. One of them, covering his mouthpiece, added "Special Ops bastards" before they all became quiet.

Sly was having a hard time stifling his laughter. _It's good to see we have some myths running around. _He quickly continued up his current tree and jumped to the next one. The camouflaged men had been brought in by the organization behind all this. Soon he was facing the southern wall.

The crack ran from the top of the wall to about the floor of the second floor. It was a thin little hairline until about the middle, where the debris had fallen out and left a banana shape. There was a sleeping guard under the crack, "guarding it". Sly quickly measured the distance between the farthest-reaching tree limb and the crack. He would probably reach it without difficulty. Sly backed up to the trunk and began his run to the edge of the longest possible branch that would still sustain his weight. Upon reaching the tip, the branch bent down but then whipped back up. He used this momentum to launch himself at the crack. He liked to call it the "flyswatter technique". Sly squeezed in between the debris and pointy metal spikes. Eventually he reached a metal end to his small banana-shaped tunnel. Sly listened carefully but, hearing nothing, gave the wall a shove. It moved away easily. He quickly squeezed through and out it back in place. It was a filing cabinet on wheels. _Well, that's perfect for keeping people out. Idiots. _

Sly was in the middle of a gray hallway. He dashed down to the corner and took a quick peek. There was a slumped over guard beside the door, sleeping.

"Give me a break," he muttered to himself. He was itching for combat, but stuck to the walls and slipped past him.

"How's it going, buddy?" asked Bentley.

"Well I'm in," he replied smoothly. "But this ain't no armory. I hope the rest of those blueprints of yours are right."

"I was afraid of that, sorry. Don't worry, that seemed like the only thing that they might have changed." His apology was genuine. Sly continued with the old plan. He went up one set of stairs and checked through a little window in the door there. Some guards were actually patrolling the corridor. Sly looked around for an alternative entrance and found just the thing.

"Hey Bentley, is the air vent in staircase B-2 in any way connected to the control room?" he asked, eyeing the beckoning air duct.

"Oh, let me just… open this here… and… yes! Just straight up and to your left actually!" came Bentley's gleeful response. Sly thanked him and swung open the little crack of an entrance. Thankfully, a space like this was a big suite for a Cooper! He crawled in and followed Bentley's instructions. Soon he was in the control room.

"OK, I'm in," he whispered. Sly shoved the now incapacitated guard off the chair and fell into it. _Am I actually tired from this! Man, I guess I'm just used to running in with a warrant and taking the direct approach now! _

"Excellent!" cheered Bentley. "I can't believe its working! Our first heist as a team in who knows how long! Alright well, I'll tell Penelope, wait a second." Bentley changed channels.

"Hey Pen, where are you?" She had left, RC car under her arm, to get better reception with the car. She said that if she stayed at the safe house that the signal might cut.

"I'm in position! The car's parked in a bush right outside the gates."

"Hey Sly," came Bentley's voice, "open the gates when you're ready."

"Oh, I'm ready!" he laughed. Sly hit the switch and opened the gates.

A/N BOOM! My hopefully triumphant return. I owe this new chapter to Wolvmbm and asfd, whose reviews motivated me to continue the story. I am a bit confused with asfd's review, but hey, a review's a review, right? Well thanks; it really means a lot, you guys. I will continue the story full steam ahead (until I require some more motivation *wink wink*).


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